Parks LLC, which is owned by former NFL stars Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell, claimed in the lawsuit that Tyson and Hillshire knew about the Parks brand before Ball Park’s launch of Park’s Finest in 2014.
But Judge Joseph Leeson, Jr. ruled that “no reasonable factfinder could find in Parks’ favor from the evidence the parties have presented.”
“Even a consumer who is familiar with the “Parks” brand would not inevitably come away with the impression that the “Park’s” in “Park’s Finest” was a reference to Parks rather than to Defendants’ “Ball Park” brand, given that the “Ball Park” name is directly integrated into both the Park’s Finest wordmark and the script of the advertisements,” Leeson wrote in his opinion.
“We understand the importance of intellectual property and take steps to protect our own. However, we did not infringe on any rights of the plaintiff or engage in false advertising,” Worth Sparkman, a spokesman for Tyson Foods, said in an emailed statement. “We’re pleased that after reviewing evidence and hearing arguments that the judge agreed and has granted our motion for summary judgment.”
Parks LLC began as the HG Parks Sausage Company, which was founded in 1950 by Henry G. Parks in Baltimore, Maryland. The company later became famous as the first black-owned corporation to be listed on an American stock exchange — the New York Stock Exchange 1969.
But the company began to decline after Parks died, and eventually fell into bankruptcy in 1995. Harris and Mitchell would later acquire the company. The two businessmen entered into a license agreement with Dietz & Watson. The company is now based in Pittsburg.
The case is Parks LLC v Tyson Foods Inc. et al, US District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 15-00946.
