Tabasco Maker Sues Sailboat Charter Business For Trademark Infringement

As an avid user of Tabasco® sauce, I relish any opportunity to write about my favorite hot sauce and its famous (although some would say infamous) trademark. I previously wrote about the controversial history of the Tabasco® trademark here.

On November 4, 2008, McIlhenny Company (“McIlhenny”), the owner of the famed TABASCO® brand, filed a lawsuit against an individual named Colby D. Fisher in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. See McIlhenny Company v. Fisher, Case No. 08-cv-10089 (S.D. Fla.). A copy of the complaint can be downloaded here.

As part of McIlhenny’s large family of Tabasco related marks, McIlhenny has federal trademark registrations on the TABASCO name for “sponsorship services” and for “boats.” McIlhenny also has a Florida state trademark registration for the name TABASCO for pepper sauce. (Query: why get a state trademark registration on a good that you have already federally registered many times over? Another pretty certificate to hang on the wall?)

The crux of McIlhenny’s lawsuit is quite simple. On July 22, 2004, Fisher inquired with McIlhenny by e-mail about possibly sponsoring his sailboat for amateur racing events. McIlhenny declined his sponsorship invitation and demanded that Fisher remove the name Tabasco from his boat before entering any racing events.

Jump ahead four year to sometime in mid-2008 when McIlhenny discovered that Fisher’s was still using the name Tabasco for his sailboat and was now using the boat to provide charter sailing services which he promoted on his website http://www.sailtabasco.com/.


McIlhenny’s sent Fisher a cease and desist letter on June 10, 2008. Fisher supposedly stopped using Tabasco’s Diamond and Semi-Circle Design and removed the designation of “Avery Island” (McIlhenny’s principal place of business) from his boat; however, he declined to stop using the Tabasco name or to cease using the sailtabasco.com domain name.

McIlhenny’s causes of action are for federal trademark infringement, federal unfair competition, federal trademark dilution, trademark infringement under Florida law, trademark dilution under Florida law, and common law trademark infringement and unfair competition. McIlhenny seeks injunctive relief, the usual damages, treble damages, costs, and attorney’s fees.

[Unrelated Comment: I always wanted to have a pet Chihuahua named “Tabasco.” One wonders if McIlhenny would have come after me that.]

(Note: Not my actual dog, just a cute picture found at dogsindepth.com)