Tabasco in hot fight with Mexican restaurant over name
Associated Press
Feb. 14, 2005 08:55 AM
There’s a hot dispute between the makers of Tabasco sauce and an Iowa Mexican restaurant.
Hot sauce maker the McIlhenny Company is suing Tabasco’s Mexican Restaurant and Patio in Marion.
McIlhenny has used the trademark Tabasco to identify its spicy pepper sauce since 1868. But the restaurant owners say they named it after the state in southeastern Mexico.
They claim an apostrophe “s” in the restaurant’s name avoids infringing on the Tabasco trademark.
It’s not an argument McIlhenny is buying. Lawyers for the hot sauce marker want a judge to order the restaurant to get a new name, pay damages and destroy everything with using the word Tabasco.