The restaurant business is requesting that they receive all proceeds from the sale of the allegedly bootlegged clothing.
Adrian Galvan
The fast food restaurant is suing San Antonio artist Adrian Galvan for copyright infringement after Galvan designed a Spurs jersey with inspiration from Fred’s Fish and inked a licensing deal with Wade and Williamson.
A local artist and other company owners have been sued by San Antonio fast food establishment Fred’s Fish Fry Inc. for a parody sports jersey that combines their insignia with the Spurs’ from the NBA.
21 defendants are accused of copyright infringement in the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in San Antonio. Among them are Michael Baez of Bexar County Social Apparel, Dapemo.com, and Rancho 181 LLC. Adrian Galvan, a San Antonio artist whose spoof uniform design went viral, is also mentioned in the petition.
In the lawsuit, which demands all earnings the defendants made from selling jerseys and other items bearing resemblances to Fred’s red and blue insignia, the Fred’s chain seems to be taking no prisoners.
In order to produce and market jerseys, Galvan entered into a license deal with Wade and Williamson, a move that the complaint claims violated the federal trademark registrations of the restaurant business.
Bexar County Social Apparel officials, Galvan, Wade, and Williamson, were not immediately available for comment on Friday.
According to the lawsuit, Fred’s is the owner of federal trademarks for the fish emblem, the checkered border, and the red, white, and blue fish design that can be seen on its carry-out cartons. The defendants are accused of printing and selling a shirt design that used those identical graphics.
Brandon T. Cook, an attorney for Fred’s legal firm, Gunn, Lee & Cave, told the Current that “under common law, whoever uses the mark first is the senior user, and they have the right to prevent people from coming along after them and adopting the same or similar mark in order to mislead consumers into purchasing their products.”
Apart from requesting the earnings from the merchandise, Fred’s is requesting that all defendants cease producing and marketing goods that have the restaurant’s logo and cover all legal and court expenses paid by the business.
Nowlin, Sanford
In the upcoming weeks, Fred’s Fish Fry intends to sell a licensed Spurs jersey.
Bexar County Social Apparel, Wade and Williamson, and other companies have taken the goods inspired by Fred from their websites as of Friday at noon. Nonetheless, photographs of gear with the chain’s brand continue to appear on the websites of other defendants, such as Dapemo.com.
A company representative named John Villanueva emailed the Current last month to confirm that Fred’s Fish Fry still intends to release its own legally sanctioned Spurs-mashup jersey in the upcoming weeks.