Chickie's & Pete's settles with 'Crabby Fries'
A restaurant in North Carolina dared to use a trademarked name.
Chickie's & Pete's settles with 'Crabby Fries'
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Pete Ciarrocchi probably was not the first guy to sprinkle Old Bay seasoning over crinkle-cut french fries, but he was the first to get to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the name "Crab Fries."
And so, the owner of Chickie's & Pete's is haunting the restaurant world, siccing his lawyer on all occasions that someone uses the term.
Even, in the most recent case, when naming a restaurant in the Outer Banks that opened in 2010.
Crabby Fries = trademark infringement!
Under a settlement reported in the Outer Banks Voice, Chickie's & Pete's has allowed a restaurant in Kill Devil Hills to keep its name. No other details were disclosed, as the settlement was confidential. (In his defense, courts expect trademark holders to defend their marks.)
Ciarrocchi has been blasted in a website and Facebook page.
