Smucker’s and Trader Joe’s are currently embroiled in a legal dispute concerning packaged peanut butter and jelly snacks.
On Oct. 13, the Ohio-based J.M. Smucker Company filed a lawsuit against Trader Joe’s, alleging that the latter’s crustless peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches are an “obvious copycat” of the former’s frozen crustless sandwiches, dubbed Uncrustables.
According to the lawsuit filing obtained by TODAY, Smucker’s sued the California-headquartered grocer in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on five counts: trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition, false designation of origin and deceptive trade practices.
Smucker’s specifically takes issue with the shape of the snacks sold by Trader Joe’s, claiming that they mimic the “round pie-like shape” and “undulated crimping” of Uncrustables. The company further alleges that Trader Joe’s version imitates the packaging and colors on the boxes of Uncrustables. Boxes of Trader Joe’s sandwiches feature images of a sandwich with a bite taken out of it — a signature graphic that Smucker’s has been using on Uncrustables packaging since 2000, per the lawsuit.
The Smucker’s lawsuit adds that Uncrustables “are fast on their way to being a $1 billion brand.” In a statement issued on Monday, the company said it is focused on “preventing consumer confusion caused by imitation,” Reuters reported.
Smucker’s is seeking an order to stop Trader Joe’s from selling its crustless peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches. The company is also asking for unspecified monetary damages. Additionally, it wants “all products and marketing materials from the Trader Joe’s sandwiches allegedly infringing on its trademarks to be delivered to Smucker’s to be destroyed,” TODAY reported.
This isn’t the first time Smucker’s has accused another company of trademark infringement. In 2022, Smucker’s sent a cease-and-desist letter to Gallant Tiger, a Minneapolis-based prepackaged sandwich startup, over the shape and packaging of its round crustless sandwiches.
As for Trader Joe’s, the brand has made a name for itself selling food dupes, often at a lower price point. In 2015, Trader Joe’s was hit with a similar trademark lawsuit from Pepperidge Farm, which claimed that the retailer’s “Crispy Cookies” were a copycat of its beloved Milano sandwich cookies. The case was dismissed in 2016, although the resolution was not publicly disclosed.
