Chubby Noodle Restaurant Files Trademark Lawsuit Against Fat Noodle Restaurant

If you're thinking of opening a healthy Asian-inspired restaurant in San Francisco called the Skinny Noodle, forget it. The Chubby Noodle, a popular San Francisco restaurant with two locations in the city, is suing yet-to-be-opened restaurant The Fat Noodle over trademark issues, claiming that the two names are "confusingly-similar," and could lead customers to believe that the latter restaurant is a spin-off of the first.

The lawsuit also claims that the logos are far too similar (both feature a bowl of noodles), as well as complaints like "unfair competition and trafficking in a domain name confusingly similar to a trademark."

However, the Saison Group, the restaurant group behind the Fat Noodle, which has been touted one of the most anticipated restaurant openings of the year, is not going down without a fight, according to SFGate.

"Fat Noodle was originally conceived in 2008, we believe long before "Chubby Noodle" existed. Saison Group filed for Fat Noodle trademark in October 2012," Saison Group's statement in response to the lawsuit reads. "The idea that restaurateurs as recognized as Saison Group would be trading off the "Chubby Noodle" name is not only highly suspect but ridiculous. Fat Noodle is a completely different concept from Chubby Noodle, and will have very focused, clean, and traditional foods using the highest quality products available. If anything, the owners of Chubby Noodle are trying to use our good name and press to enhance their own. Their claims are without merit."

The San Francisco courts will have to decide who is the real noodle, and who is the im-pasta.