A trademark infringement case involving the iconic yellow and blue packaging of Spam food products has been dismissed in federal court.
A settlement between Austin-based Hormel Foods and Zwanenberg Food Group led to the dismissal of the suit by Judge David Doty Tuesday in U.S. District Court, with both parties agreeing to dismiss all claims and counterclaims.
Hormel filed the suit in March, alleging that Zwanenberg used packaging starting in 2010 on a competing product, Prem, that was "confusingly similar" to Spam.
While Zwanenberg altered the label design at Hormel's request, Hormel maintained that the new label still created confusion because it still used a yellow-on-blue color scheme. The products were sold in Japan and the Philippines, according to the complaint.
Zwanenberg responded that its packaging was unlikely to cause confusion with Hormel's packaging, adding that Spam's yellow lettering on a blue background "is generic and/or otherwise unprotectable as a matter of law."
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An attorney for Hormel confirmed that a settlement had been reached on the case, but declined to give details, saying the settlement was confidential. The lead attorney for Zwanenberg, Fred Perkins, couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
