Dive Brief:
- Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent company of Circle K, is being sued by beverage company Polar Corp., which alleges it is misusing the Polar Pop brand in and around its c-stores and via radio and online advertising, according to filings made in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
- According to court documents, Couche-Tard has “repeatedly breached” a 2007 agreement with Polar, which said the retailer can only use the Polar Pop brand to identify straws, utensils, cups and mugs in its stores. The lawsuit claims Couche-Tard is instead identifying its own beverages as Polar Pop, among other allegations.
- The lawsuit claims Couche-Tard has caused Polar “irreparable harm and monetary harm” and lost business, opportunity, goodwill and reputation, as consumers may confuse or conflate the brands. Polar is seeking financial compensation to be determined at trial.
Dive Insight:
Beyond only allowing the Polar Pop brand to be used for utensils, cups and mugs, the 2007 agreement between Polar and Couche-Tard prohibits using the brand to identify an area within a store offering soft drinks; using Polar Pop outside of Circle K stores; using Polar Pop in radio and online advertising; and registering Polar Pop for prohibited goods and services outside the U.S.
According to the lawsuit, in 2018, Couche-Tard’s Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Lewis, and other executives traveled to Polar’s headquarters in Worcester, Massachusetts, to discuss expanding the limits of the agreement. However, Polar did not agree to new terms.
The suit notes that in recent years, Couche-Tard has continually breached the agreement, despite no amendments having been made, which has hurt Polar’s brand in the public eye and resulted in profit losses.
After multiple attempts by Polar to discuss these concerns, Couche-Tard “has not credibly engaged with the consequences of its actions,” leading to the suit, according to court documents.
“Circle K’s refusal to engage with Polar, and its expansion of its activities in breach of the 2007 Agreement — after acknowledging in April 2021 the validity of the 2007 Agreement and Polar’s concerns about Circle K’s conduct — constitutes intentional breach of contract and bad faith,” the lawsuit states. “Polar repeatedly notified Circle K that it had never agreed, and does not agree or consent, to Circle K’s use of Polar Pop to identify beverages.”
Beyond the undisclosed financial reward, Polar is demanding Couche-Tard “surrender or otherwise affirmatively abandon” its trademark registrations and pending applications for Polar Pop in the U.S. and abroad. Additionally, Polar seeks the money needed to “employ corrective advertising to counter the infringing use of Polar Pop in Circle K’s advertising.”
