By Tim Binnall
In what will likely wind up being merely the first round of a lengthy legal battle, a Lizzie Borden-themed coffee shop recently scored a victory in court over the nearby Lizzie Borden House, which asserts that they are violating their trademarks. The contentious dispute between the two businesses began this past summer when Miss Lizzie's Coffee opened its doors a short distance from the infamous 'murder house,' which was the site of the grisly 1892 double ax murder and now serves as a macabre tourist attraction. Crying foul over the perceived infringement on their trademark, the Lizzie Borden House subsequently filed suit against the eatery and also requested an injunction forcing the restaurant to change its name until the case could ultimately be settled in court.
However, their initial legal salvo came up short as, in a ruling released last week, a federal judge reportedly shot down their injunction request and ruled in favor of the coffee shop, which can keep its name for now. In explaining his reasoning for the decision, Judge Leo Sorokin offered the rather nuanced opinion that while the Lizzie Borden House may own the trademark to 'Lizzie Borden,' it is in connection to the actual house connected to the case, while Lizzie's Coffee Shop is something of an homage to the tale itself, which belongs to the proverbial history books. He also observed that the two businesses offer different services and meticulously dismantled the tourist attraction's argument that the coffee shop was using a hatchet logo that was too similar to their trademarked image.
Regarding the Lizzie Borden House's assertion that the coffee shop's alleged violation of their trademark confused potential customers, the judge expressed skepticism, musing that "the same issues would arise if Miss Lizzie’s called its cafe 'Forty Whacks Coffee' and used a different image as its logo." With the temporary injunction rebuffed, Miss Lizzie's Coffee may continue using its name for now, though it may turn out to be only a temporary victory as the actual trademark violation lawsuit brought by the Lizzie Borden House is set to continue being fought in court unless the two parties can come to some resolution.