February 6, 2008

On February 6, 2008, Judge Wayne R. Andersen of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted AB Foods, LLC, summary judgment that it did not infringe the federal or Illinois trademark rights claimed in the term "AB" by Allen Brothers, Inc. AB Foods is one of the nation's leading fully integrated beef producers, and supplies, among other products, a variety of gourmet beef products to restaurants, premium beef retailers and the international marketplace.

In this case, Allen Brothers, Inc. v. AB Foods, LLC, No. 06-C-1269 (N.D. Ill.), Allen Brothers claimed the exclusive right to use the letters "AB" on high quality, gourmet beef products sold to restaurants and individual consumers. Allen Brothers alleged that the use of "AB" in AB Food's corporate name infringed its rights under §43(a) of the Lanham act and Illinois common law.

The court held as a matter of law that Allen Brothers' evidence, if believed by a jury, could not establish a likelihood of confusion between "AB" as used by Allen Brothers and the use of "AB" by AB Foods. The court based its finding on several factors, including the lack of similarity between the parties' use of the term "AB"; the high degree of care exercised by the parties' relevant customers before purchasing its products; the strength of Allen Brothers' mark; the lack of evidence of actual confusion; and the long use of "AB" by AB Food's parent Agri Beef Co., as well as the absence of any evidence that AB Foods sought to pass off its products as those of Allen Brothers.

AB Foods is represented by the team of Frank J. Dykas and Elizabeth Herbst Schierman of Dykas, Shaver & Nipper, LLP, and Philip T. Petti and Rudy Kratz of Fitch Even.