by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - September 20, 2010 - i. Trademark Infringement Lawsuits
The international House of Pancakes filed a trademark infringement suit in California earlier this September against the International House of Prayer with IHOPancakes alleging the IHOPrayer deliberately choose that name to rope-in new followers by capitalizing off of the famous IHOP trademark.
Speaking on behalf of IHOPancakes, Patrick Lenow provided the public with the Pancake Restaurant’s motive for filing the lawsuit;
“We are compelled to protect the 350 small-business owners who own IHOP franchises and the IHOP good name that’s been around for 52 years”
IHOPancake’s complaint alleges trademark dilution in addition to the trademark infringement of its famous name. Also in the complaint, the Pancake Restaurant notes that it has been using the IHOP acronym in commerce since 1973. Not suprisingly, IHOP has its name registered as a trademark with the USPTO.
It would seem like IHOPancakes has little to fear from the Prayer Center’s use of the acronym. However, IHOPrayer, who has been using that acronym since 1999, has now begun to serve food in conjunction with its holding of church services and purport to operate 24/7 for people to come and pray.
Serving food and staying open 24/7 while using the same mark as IHOPancakes may have subjected the Prayer Center to liability for trademark infringement and dilution, Click Here for Google News coverage of the IHOP Sues IHOP dispute.
Reporting on the trademark dilution and trademark infringement dispute in the article “Pancake house takes on prayer group”, CNN noted that;
“The Kansas City, Missouri-based church group “selected and adopted the International House of Prayer name, knowing it would be abbreviated IHOP. IHOP-KC intended to misappropriate the fame and notoriety of the household name IHOP to help promote and make recognizable their religious organization,” the lawsuit says.
Lawyers from the pancake restaurant say the odds are stacked against the church group and provided the court with pages and pages of documentation of websites, newsletters and signs on buildings where the prayer group allegedly used the IHOP acronym.”
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
