Indian Eatery Pays Rival $700K in Trademark Tiff

NJ's Kati Rolls & Platters had to change its name, signage
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 14, 2016 11:30 AM CDT
Indian Eatery Pays Rival $700K in Trademark Tiff
The Kati Roll Company's London location.   (Facebook)

The less fortunate party in a battle of Indian restaurants in New York and New Jersey has agreed to fork over $700,000, apparently just to get his rival off his back. The Kati Roll Company—whose owner claims it was the first restaurant of its kind in the US when it opened in New York City in 2002, per the New York Times—sued Kati Rolls & Platters of New Brunswick, NJ, for trademark infringement, claiming the eatery's name was too similar to its own and confusing customers, reports NJ.com. But the name—referring to the traditional Indian wrap of meat, veggies, and flatbread—wasn't the only issue, says Kati Roll Company's owner. Payal Saha also accused Kati Rolls & Platters of stealing the eatery's decor and color scheme, per Patch.com.

"We found that not only had they borrowed elements of our decor ... (but) they positioned themselves as the official The Kati Roll Company," on Facebook, Saha's husband says. "That is when we got a little more serious about it." Niraj Jivani—whose renamed restaurant Nirvanis Indian Kitchen now features a mostly green and white sign to differ from the Kati Roll Company's orange frontage—says Saha is just "mad that she lost all of her New Jersey customers to me … From day one, she got mad that I had twice as many (rolls) and the legendary white sauce that we made." The Kati Roll Company also sued Kati Junction in NYC, which agreed to change its name, color scheme, and recipes. (Trader Joe's is accused of trademark infringement over a cookie.)

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