New Jersey residents seem to love the convenience store Wawa, with roughly 50 of its 700 locations in the state alone. The store is well renowned throughout the state and has recently filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against a convenience store that calls itself Dawa. Though the saying “imitation is the highest form of flattery” is true, it is also illegal when it comes to the corporate world.
Dawa Food Mart is a convenience store located in Patterson, New Jersey. In Wawa’s lawsuit against the store that was filed earlier this year, they state, “Dawa engender strikingly similar appearances, sounds, meanings, and overall commercial impressions,” of their own brand. Wawa fears that allowing Dawa to keep its name would hurt Wawa’s brand, though Dawa owner argues that their name means “welcome” in Korean. However, the similarity comes not only in the name but also in the logo. Dawa has an image of a leaf in the same location that Wawa has an image of a goose in their logo. It was just announced last week that Dawa must change its name within 90 days, and if they fail to do so, they will have to pay $12,000 in damages. For months, the owner said they had intended to keep the name Dawa, but on May 11, 2017, they signed an agreement that says they will make the change.
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