English Brewing Over Tea Dispute
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This time, it’s the British who are steamed about the tea.
A company from Middlesex, England, has filed a lawsuit against Lipton over the rights to round tea bags.
In the 37-page lawsuit, there is no reference to Boston or a tea party or taxation without representation. But there is a lot of talk about trademark infringement and unfair competition.
J. Lyons & Co. and its U.S. unit, Tetley, say Thomas J. Lipton Inc., an Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based company, copied its design for a round tea bag it began selling in the United States in 1991.
John Young, a lawyer for Lipton, said the company would fight the lawsuit.
He said the British company cannot claim “rights to a very common geographic shape.”
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