Suit over fish fry hinges on determining true ‘original’

By Penny Font

Call it the $100 million fish fry war.

Two Louisiana food giants—Louisiana Fish Fry Products and Bruce Foods Corporation—are fighting it out in federal court over the right to claim they produce the one, true Louisiana fish and chicken fry. Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Fish Fry Products sued Bruce Foods in the summer of 2011, alleging the St. Martinville company best known for its Cajun Injector products infringed upon the former’s trademark when it launched a new line of batter products under the name “The Original Louisiana Fish Fry Mix” and “The Original Louisiana Chicken Fry Mix.”

Louisiana Fish Fry Products has used the trademark for its seasoned batter mixes for fish, shrimp and chicken since its formation in 1983. The company also claims that Bruce Foods’ assertion that its batters are “the original” is false and misleading, since their arrival in grocery stores trailed Louisiana Fish Fry batters by nearly three decades.

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