Faux Fish Company Ordered To Stop Using “Chickpea Of The Sea” Name

As more and more companies jump on the fake meat bandwagon, producing meatless burgers that bleed and now “vegan sushi” meant to mimic the experience of eating fish, it isn’t just consumers that are paying attention: established names in the meat industry are on the lookout for imitators, and ready to protect their trademarks.

In 2014, Unilever filed a lawsuit against a company called Hampton Creek, claiming that it was defrauding consumers by marketing eggless mayonnaise called “Just Mayo.” It eventually dropped that claim and introduced its own vegan mayonnaise.

And now, a new company called Tofuna Fysh out of Portland, OR that sells faux tuna fish, “fysh” sauce, and “fysh” oil says it received a cease-and-desist letter from Chicken of the Sea for its trademark application of the “Chickpea of the Sea” name and jingle it used on its website.

The founder of the company tells Bloomberg that he has accepted that he might have to give up the trademark, but would like to keep the jingle. A lawyer specializing in trademark law who is not involved with the case says that would seem to be a “fair compromise.”

“We have had a productive dialogue,” a Chicken of the Sea representative said. “We hope to amicably resolve the issue in a timely manner.”