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Question: What ever happened to the lawsuit Big Island Candies filed against Cookie Corner for allegedly copying their popular chocolate-dipped macadamia nut shortbread cookies? Mediation efforts fail to
resolve cookie disputeBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comAnswer: The parties appear to be headed to trial after mediation efforts failed.
A date for the trial has not been set, but it could be scheduled sometime in October, said William Meyer, attorney for Cookie Corner. Trademark infringement cases are quite complex and involve extensive discovery, he said.
Big Island Candies filed suit against Cookie Corner in June claiming they were profiting off the Hilo company's "hard-earned good will, name recognition and reputation."
The suit contends similarities between the two cookies, from its shape to the way it's dipped in chocolate to packaging and advertising, are too much of a coincidence and mislead consumers.
Cookie Corner disagrees.
"Our clients are very firm that they have a legal right to produce the cookies at issue," Meyer said. "Our perspective is that grandmas have been making these cookies for generations. It would be grossly inequitable to allow a single company to obtain a legally protected monopoly on such a a simple generic cookie shape."
Big Island Candies, initially established in 1977 as a one-person operation, produces and sells chocolate-dipped macadamia nut shortbread cookies, brownies and chocolate confections from its Hilo factory and retail showroom, the DFS Galleria Waikiki, via mail order or through the Big Island Candies Web site. The chocolate-dipped macadamia nut shortbread cookies are its best-selling product.
Meyer said Cookie Corner, locally owned by Iolani classmates Angus McKibbin and James McArthur with 12 retail locations in Hawaii, has been dipping cookies in chocolate for 15 years and sells its own version.
The attorney for Big Island Candies could not be reached for comment.
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