Trader Joe’s argues its PB&J sandwiches are ‘squircles,’ not round
Trader Joe’s argues its PB&J sandwiches are “squircles,” not round
A federal judge has ruled that J.M. Smucker can proceed with a trademark lawsuit against Trader Joe’s over frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Smucker alleges are too similar to its Uncrustables. The decision permits the case to advance in federal court in Ohio.
Smucker filed the suit last fall in federal court in Ohio. In its complaint, the company accused Trader Joe’s of trademark violation tied to the introduction of frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that, according to Smucker, share the same round shape and crimped edges as Uncrustables.
The lawsuit further alleged that Trader Joe’s packaged its crustless PB&J sandwiches in boxes whose coloring resembled an Uncrustables box and featured a similar photograph of a sandwich with a bite taken out of one side.
In court filings, Trader Joe’s countered that its frozen sandwiches are not round but shaped as “squircles” — square sandwiches with rounded edges. The company said the crimped pattern is needed to keep the contents inside the sandwich, and that Smucker should not be permitted to monopolize the crimped design.
Smucker is headquartered in Orrville, Ohio. The dispute centers on three claimed points of similarity: the sandwiches’ shape, the crimped edges that seal the bread together, and the visual presentation of the packaging.
The case turns on whether the features Smucker cites — shape, crimped edges and packaging presentation — are distinctive elements of Smucker’s brand that the company can claim as its own, or are functional design elements that no company should be permitted to monopolize. Trader Joe’s filings frame the design elements as functional; Smucker’s complaint treats the same features as the basis for its trademark claim.
The ruling permits the case to move forward without resolving the underlying trademark claims, which would still need to be litigated or settled.