English Brewing Over Tea Dispute

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.”