Reynolds Consumer Products wins permanent injunction against competitor
Client(s) Reynolds Consumer Products, LLC
On behalf of Reynolds Consumer Products LLC, Jones Day obtained a permanent injunction against a competitor's use of trade dress similar to that of Reynolds Wrap® trade dress.
On October 1, 2014, EDVA Judge Liam O'Grady entered a permanent injunction against Wheeling, Illinois-based Handi-Foil Corporation's use of aluminum roll foil packaging similar to that of Reynolds Wrap®. The injunction follows Jones Day's victory in a March trial in which the jury found that Handi-Foil willfully infringed the federal common law trade dress rights of Reynolds to its iconic "reflex blue" and coral (and, for nonstick, yellow) packaging design. The October 1 order follows lengthy post-trial argument over the scope and content of a permanent injunction, and is noteworthy in banning any and all designs that would be similar to Reynolds' trade dress—including certain combinations of colors on the Pantone color scale that are similar to the colors of Reynolds' trade dress. Judge O'Grady also ruled that the injunction shall take effect October 6, 2014, rather than a later date that would have allowed Handi-Foil to continue its packaging design into the critical Thanksgiving season.
The case was unusual in that Reynolds hired Jones Day to replace its former counsel months after the final pretrial conference and barely two months before trial.
The Jones Day Washington team consisted of partner John Froemming, associates Jessica Bradley and Robyn-Ashley Hall, and staff attorney Richard Fieman.
Reynolds Consumer Products Inc. v. Handi-Foil Corp., Case No. 1:13-cv-00214 (E.D. Va.) (Judge O'Grady)
