Dive Brief:
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Despite receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Saks 5th Avenue, an online retailer of healthy dog treats is holding on to its name like a dog with a bone.
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Snaks 5th Avenchew infringes on the department store’s name, according to the letter.
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But the dog-treat purveyor plans to resist, saying parody names pass legal muster, citing Chewy Vuitton and Bloomingtails as examples.
Dive Insight:
While Hudson’s Bay Co.-owned Saks has gone so far as to send a cease-and-desist letter, the company won’t say whether it would actually take this matter further. But Snaks 5th Avenchew founder Carrie Sarabella, who launched the healthy dog treat company because of her own pet’s allergies, doesn’t seem worried. With so many pet health problems associated with dog treats sourced in China, Sarabella may be onto something, which by any other name would smell as sweet, though maybe not as funny.
