An update to my previous message about the new Chabela’s Bar & Grill. Signs posted in their storefront windows advertising that they’re hiring have an interesting component: a logo. And by ‘interesting’, I mean unimaginative and possibly trademark/copyright infringement. Take a look at my photo of their window posting attached, and then take a look at the Cabela’s logo on their website http://www.cabelas.com/.
Now I’m no attorney, but I can’t believe that the owners haven’t been advised against such blatant copying. This may not end well.
That’s Chabela’s on the left, Cabela’s on the right. At least they didn’t choose Comic Sans!
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Wow. I’ve let Cabela’s corporate know.
wow, what a stinker, making trouble for a new business just opening. maybe they didnt know. had you thought about contacting the opening business?
This seems a VERY inappropriate way to deal with the issue, if there even is one.
they didn’t know? do you really believe that?
I really believe that. I can nto in any way attribute blatant copying deliberately doen to a new business.. who would do such a thing? And I am repulsed that a writer would ‘call them’ out on Wallyhood in such a way.
@miaomiao: are you saying that you think the sign designer was just looking through fonts and happened, out of thousands of fonts, to randomly choose the one that was an exact match for a brand with an almost identical name?
Or are you saying that the owner either didn’t know that it was copyright infringement to do so (which it may or may not be, I have no idea), or if he did know, that he didn’t know it is a big deal (which it may or may not be)?
I think @neighbor was asking the first question, but I can’t imagine that’s what you meant when you answered.
As I said, I do not think the owner deliberately copied anothers’ design.
PERIOD
wow, what a stinker, making trouble for a new business just opening. maybe they didnt know. had you thought about contacting the opening business?
This seems a VERY inappropriate way to deal with the issue, if there even is one.
AND that making trouble for a new business moving ino tthe neighborhood is not a very welcoming move.
I am also concerned that this post and the Amazon one have a very ” I am the prosecutor without much information attitude which smacks of yellow journalism or scandal mongering. Let’s get back to workign together to improve parks or deal with crossing signs.
Cabelas could use the advertising & visual recognition. A good protocol is always “Care to Confront” before you talk with a 3rd party. It would have been skookum to talk with the owners first. They may have already cleared it with Cabelas. It’s up to Cabelas to search & decide their response. But it could soften their hunting & firearms rep to allow this to co-exist. They could get a little good PR from it.
well, apparently ‘neighbor’ has tattled to Cabela’s.. thus ‘good protocol’ can not happen.
Are you sure they aren’t actually related? When I saw the sign I worried we will have a hunting themed bar complete with mounted heads.
Exact match? What about the apostrophe and s? And it might be a trademark issue, but not sure about copyright. But it isn’t for any of us to decide.
Miaomiao, lay off the ‘nip. Your ignorant naivete defies belief.
well very uncreative, but as far as trademark infringement goes, the fact that one is a restaurant and one is a clothing brand/retail/hunting or something does not make me too worried for the new restaurant.
It also sounds just like “Ciao Bella” when you say it aloud.
I hope it doesn’t become something like the Eat More Kale lawsuit!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pete-mason/eat-more-kale_b_1469661.html
Did some J-ass really just call “Cabela’s Corporate?” Angry troll.
And yet this site tiptoed around Bill the Butcher which is so obviously a scam in the name of “supporting local businesses.”
#1. neighbor .. did.. neighborhood vigilante social justice.. welcome to the neighborhood new restaurant!
Enough Bickering. Give Andres Rizo Lopez a call at the registered address of Servicentro Latino (713 SE Everett Mall Way Ste C Everett, WA 98208) at (425) 327-8373 and ask him.
The idea that simply reporting alleged wrongdoing (whether you think this is a wrong or not) is somehow a “vigilante” act is incredibly backwards.
i am all for social justice. Looks like this sleazy owner is trying to trade on the good name of a well established corporation.
for the record i didn’t report anything to cabelas corporate. love to see the panties get all up in a bunch though.
the owner may not know that his logo comes so close to the a major chain’s logo i had to do a double take at first like WTF, (where is a Cabela’s going to fit was my first inclination) but the person who designed the logo knows. I’d wager my meager bank account that they knew exactly what they were doing (and that the owner is aware). Can I prove this? Of course not but I live in a reality based world, and while statistically possible, this is so highly unlikely that this is just random coincidence.
“Wow. I’ve let cabela’s corporate know.”
” for the record I didn’t report anything to cabelas corporate..”
I hope you find other things to do with you rtime than to create wild drama and potentially hurt a new business moving into the neighborhood. I also hope Wallyhood considers restricting your posting rights.
Your comments are all a hoot to read. It doesn’t matter what side of the issue one is on, your positions and soap box mounted posts are a riot to read. Personally I think this is a perfect question for a 100 level law class for the students to debate rather than the “happy” citizens of Wallyworld. Hopefully they would have read the chapter to have a bit more credibility rather than vitriol regardless of position. Keep attacking each other. It’s fabulous fun for the rest of us!
wild drama? Hahaha.
how would this hurt a new business? if they have indeed stolen the likeness of a trademark/copyright (i am not smart enough to the know legal differences) that is on them. If they are too stupid to know, i don’t know if ignorance is a good legal defense.
@ Claudia – i’ll keep up the bad work 🙂
Wow, this site is way more entertaining than RavennaBlog.
I don’t know, similar sounding name, same font and color? These days in our media/social media saturated world, coincidence is a really rare occurrence.
@miaomiao you are very optimistic soul.
Regardless if intentional or unintentional, if Chabela’s unwittingly copied Cabela’s registered trademark then Chabela’s may find an immediate cease and desist letter from Cabela’s legal team to stop using their trademark (same trade look and dress) before formal legal action is taken. Corporations have deeper pockets for legal actions than do small businesses. They say ignorance is bliss but not when it comes to intellectual property laws and courts. I don’t know if Chabela’s wants to travel down that expensive road. I would say that they should rethink their logo especially if they will have a Facebook page, website, or twitter feed. Nobody on this board will probably bother to whistle blow them to Cabela’s but it’s only a matter of time before someone in the twitter/facebook-verse discovers it and does.
My hunch is that the owners cheaped out on their brand identity and hired an unimaginative or lazy newbie designer unaware of the legal implications of copying a registered trademark logo or someone on their end thought it was a cute idea to copy the Cabela’s logo. Hey, our names are similar, why not?….
Wallyhood is just pointing out the similarities in the logos. There’s nothing wrong with doing that. It may help the new business out before it spends money on signage, menus, business cards, etc.
well, has anyone contacted the perp/
I shan’t.
you really should, you could be helping this poor soul and their small business. just wait until; the evil mega corp eventually gets wind after this poor soul has created signage etc. then the inevitable legal fees. you’ll be the small business owners savior.
Thank you iliveheretoo for your thoughtful comments. I agree.
@miaomiao, is your uncaring indifference to the plight of a poor local businessman so harsh that you won’t lift your delicate anarchist fingers to warn them of their impending peril?
Maybe Wallyhood should suspend YOUR posting rights because you are a hypocrite and a bad influence on the ill-informed and uneducated who feel that ANY opinion is as good as any other regardless of the shallowness of its content. No, I’m kidding; keep up the, uh, “work” – you can call it ART! Archie McPhee’s called; they want their rubber brains back.
Listen… I hear Cabela’s black helicopters off in the distance… (cue “Flight Of The Valkyries”)
[All WoofWoof’s comments © 2013]
you win. I am a horrible bitch who has no conscience or cares. and my altruistic optimistic attitude should have me shot on sight.
I would support someone to call the big company and make sure that the new restaurant will be sued and never open their doors.
All new businessed deserve to be tried and juried by all neighbors and all potential difficulties infringements delays disorders be reported to the most heavy handed available for the most lengthy costly process possible.
Ah, well now we’ve found several points we can agree on. 🙂
“What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.”
[All original content © Woof Woof, 2013]
HEY!
We need more clueless idiots running restaurants here in WallyBurgh.
I am certain the carelessness with legal issues will become diligence toward food safety* concerns.
*Botulism, Brucellosis, Campylobacteriosis, E.coli, Leptospirosis, Listeriosis, Salmonella, Shigellosis, Staphylococcus aureus, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Rotavirus, Amebiasis, Ascariasis, Cryptosporidium, Isosporiasis, Toxoplasmosis, Trichinosis, anyone? Did you want flies with that?
Can you imagine a Cabela’s….IN WALLINGFORD!! LOL
Steve
To totally change topics here….does anyone know what kind of restaurant it will be? Another Mexican place? Something new? Also, does anyone know if the business actually counts as ‘small’? It may be part of a chain. (which is fine…I’m just trying to get more info)
They’re different fonts.
DOUG, that has nothing to do with it.
The author, Ken, THINKS there is a copywrite/brand infringement and many others who write here do also. This poor thinking on the part of the owner/investors/ management staff is foreshadowing and representative of many other potential poisonous actions which may occur due to poor planning, incompetent design and a host of other wrongs per bowow and Alice B.
It is scary what mobthink might do.
Yeah, JohnC above noted dissimilarity in “s” and the apostrophe, and the “b” is not the same shape, the line joining “b” and “e” isn’t at the same place, the shading or drop or whatever you call it is bigger on the Cabela’s logo. They’re vaguely similar, but if a case depended on them being much more similar than any two cursive fonts, it would be a poor case.
If I was a bettin’ man, I’d bet a quarter Cabela’s won’t go after them. The resemblance appears to be intentional, but it isn’t a straight copy, and it’s (presumably) a restaurant, not a sporting goods store. They could do the corporate bully thing anyway, but probably not.
There was a Mexican restaurant by that name on Mercer Island, by the way. Now closed, don’t know anything about it other than a Seattle Times blurb.
Not sure, Katie, but coincidentally, there is a Cabela’s restaurant inside Cabela stores:
http://www.cabelas.com/resources/cabelas-restaurant-menu.shtml
Mmmm, fudge and Elk Burgers!
You have all heard that if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck…..and so on.
It appears resemblance is so close that all of you recognize it for Cabela’s, regardless of industry.
While we are at it lets get a new bank named Charbucks, in green, and an insurance office names Saferways with a big red S. it’s all good, right? Little “good” shop, big “mean” corporation.
Hello!
Keep going, this is fun!
Does anyone know the answer to all of this?
I do.
Right, the resemblance does appear to be intentional. If the name itself is part of that – I mean, they named it Chabela’s just so it would sound like Cabela’s – then the analogies with the bank and insurance office would be apt. That would be real weird, too. Far more likely it’s the owner’s name or something, it was going to be the name of the restaurant in any case, and while making that sign someone thought it would be funny to make a visual reference to the sports outfit’s similar name. It is kind of funny, and harmless, in view of some of the reactions here it might be a little outrageous.
I’m with E30 Memorial. I can’t imagine anyone in Wallingford going “oh, great, a Cabela’s restaurant just opened up. You up for elk tonight, Elvira?” It’s probably still an appropriation of the trademark, but I’d guess it’s far more likely to be laziness by a designer than any attempt to trade on Cabela’s goodwill in our neighborhood (and I say that as someone who wears their hiking shoes).
Two words: WHO CARES?
cabela’s may care. chabela’s may ultimately care. i care.
45 comments so far. Yeah, who cares. Certainly not Tri-P, who is better than us yet took the time to comment (but doesn’t really care 😉
My first thought was, it looks like the font/color used on countless midwestern restaurants we saw during a visit to Indiana. It’s really not that unusual a treatment. Take a look at any basic font books in sign stores (or now, the web) and you’ll see it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the owner him/herself picked it out at a Kinko’s.
Regarding type: It says Grill/Bar (or something to that effect) on the sign. I noticed a giant neon cactus in the window by the door last week. I’m guessing it will be something along the lines of a Chili’s: upscale burgers, chicken, that sort of thing. That’s purely speculation, however.
i don’t care a bit – i’m more disappointed by the prospect of yet another mediocre restaurant on 45th… boo
I hope they have great food. I wa sso disappointed in the last one and even Selens’s. being a long time resident I recall when Guadalajara was across 45th in a tiny place and had superb food.
@iowagirl queried, “Does anyone know the answer to all of this?”
…… 42
The answer is that because one person saw a strong resemblance between a new business logo and an existing business’s loge.. that we have badly panned a new business coming to the area. We have or may have caused problems for the new business and/or ourselves due to some comments.
I would so appreciate the owner of Wallyhood removing the entire conjectured and potentially damaging article and thread.
I don’t think this thread should be removed. Do you think you might be overestimating the power of our 51 comments on a neighborhood blog? Most of the comments I didn’t think were negative.
We will definitely try out the new restaurant and would love to support another neighborhood business. Hope everything works out for them.
@Yumyum – are you suggesting that Wallyhood is obligated to “happy stamp” every issue that comes up? That we can’t cry “Fie” on a stinking fish?
“Happy stamp” Chabela’s.
“Happy Stamp” Skanska’s Stone34 project,
“Happy Stamp” the developers who build abominations on fractional plots
… or do you just mean that we should all agree with *YOU*?
I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that.
Tell miaomiao I said “woof”.
[All content © Woof Woof, 2013]
Words out there’s a rif in Wallyhood:
http://seattle.eater.com/tags/chabela-s-bar-grill
I’m guessing Chabela’s isn’t too savvy, as copyright infringement is a big risk a little company shouldn’t ought to take on. As a long time graphic artist, they are definitely infringing. Imagine how McDonalds would react if you tried to use their M, but added little serif feet to it to make it “different”.
: Look… me and the McDonald’s people got this little misunderstanding. See, they’re McDonald’s… I’m McDowell’s. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.
Lots of great publicity for Chabela’s!
Have they opened yet/
Why don’t you go find out instead of asking here?
wow, acidity..
Hey, this thread was featured in the Stranger’s blog!
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/07/chabelas-versus-cabelas
I came here to be a part of something big and important. And now I’ve made it.
There’s a lot going on here.
First, accusing the new restaurant of intentional copyright infringement is harsh, and potentially libelous (as long as we are throwing around legal accusations). We really do not know if it was intentional, but moreover, WHY WOULD IT BE? Seriously, why would a bar & grill want to confuse their brand with a outdoor rec store? People seem to be saying that the restaurant would benefit from this alleged infringement, but in what way? Are people going to confuse a restaurant with a store that sells canoes? Is Cabela’s even that well known? We are not talking about Starbucks or Safeway or REI. I personally had never heard of it, and after looking it up, I see that there are not even any Cabela’s in Seattle (the closest one is either in Tulalip or Lacey). I cannot see any reason why this owner would think, “Hmm, I want people to come to my restaurant, so I am going to try and get people to confuse it with some random ass sporting goods store. That’s the ticket.” It is irrational.
Second, yellow cursive font is not exactly an extraordinarily creative logo for any business. The two logos use *similar* fonts, but not the exact same one. It is entirely possible that two separate businesses came up with similar logos completely independently of each other. Hell, just now looking in word, I found several default fonts that are pretty close to Cabela’s. Just make it yellow and turn on a shadow. Done.
Finally, copyright does not have to be intentional in order to be actionable. It could very well be that Chabela’s logo is too close to Cabela’s logo, that that the latter will sue the former. However, and this is a big however, that does not mean that Chabela’s has been acting with evil intent when establishing this restaurant. It is also not necessary for Wallingford to enforce the copyright for Cabela’s; the business is totally capable of doing so on its own. The sporting goods store is not going to be harmed by this, and the restaurant will not make some huge windfall off of its signs. Let’s put the pitchforks down, welcome a new business to our neighborhood, and let the parties figure this shit out for themselves.
tl;dr – all you all need to calm the f— down.
A voice of reason..
want to go out for tacos some day?
@39 Better marketing to call the bank StaBucks, not Charbucks. I’d rather have my money STAy someplace STAble than be burned.
It is interesting how if you work for a company you set up Google Alerts for the companies name. No need to call the Corporate office.
Funny Stuff
sue this blogger and the audacious aspersions
sue this blogger and the audacious aspersions
drove by and it looks like it might be tex mex. a neon sign inside looked similar to one that used to be at a chain called chevys.
I think they had a soft opening last night, that is what the sign said. I stopped in to say hello, the staff and people were very, very nice! I wished them well.
drove by.. nice looking sign, lit up inside.. I’ll be in soon.
Haven’t you posted multiple times that you fear that you will run out of money and end up panhandling in front of QFC? Maybe you should save your pennies?
Ah, like McDowells in “Coming to America”. All in all, way too many comments about a stupid businessman who must live in a bubble to not see the similarity in the lettering, etc. Why he/she would do it is beyond understanding.
I am so disappointed in the vicious mean words people choose to throw around on here. I understand the mod chooses to let it fly, but I want to say, some of you are seriously contorted in your thinking and need to cause and throw trouble.