"Pierogi Festival" name sparks food fight
Pierogies may be known to spark an appetite, but they can also provoke a food fight.
A Pennsylvania celebration of a popular Polish treat is embroiled in a food fight after a suburban Chicago chamber of commerce threatened a trademark infringement lawsuit over the use of the name "Pierogi Festival."
The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens' Voice reports that lawyers for the Whiting Pierogi Fest in Indiana recently sent a letter demanding that the Edwardsville Hometown Committee stop using the name or pay royalties.
Citing a 1994 "Pierogi Fest" trademark, the letter calls the Pennsylvania festival name "unfair competition" and "likely to cause consumer confusion."
Local lawyers said in a federal suit Monday that the Edwardsville festival isn't a competitor and the general name isn't trademark infringement.
The fourth annual Edwardsville Pierogi Festival was held in June. The 28th annual Whiting Pierogi Fest was held last weekend.