Idaho potato giant J.R. Simplot Co. sues McCain Foods, claiming the company copied its idea for a twisty French fry it calls the Sidewinder, the Times-News reports. Simplot wants the court to award three times actual damages, with the amount to be decided through court, to compensate for “willful” patent infringement plus interest. It also wants a permanent injunction to keep Illinois-based McCain from further infringement.
“McCain’s conduct has caused and will cause great and irreparable harm to Simplot in an amount which cannot be adequately remedied by money damages, leaving Simplot with no adequate remedy at law,” Simplot attorneys wrote in the complaint. In 2013, Simplot introduced Sidewinder fries with a distinctive twist design. They were an “overnight success,” attorneys said.
In June, McCain began advertising, promoting and offering its “Twisted Potato” products for sale in the U.S. in an effort to “unfairly compete” against the company and cut into Simplot’s 100 percent share of the Sidewinders market, the suit says.
The Twisted Potato fries are “deceptively and confusing similar” to Simplot’s fries, and customers are “likely to confuse the products and their sources of origin,” according to the suit.
