Vancouver’s Pirate Joe’s takes on U.S. grocery giant Trader Joe’s
Michael Hallatt has never worked harder for what he says is less money, re-selling someone else’s products.
For a year and a half, Hallatt has made frequent trips across the border, spending almost $350,000 stocking up on goods at U.S. grocery giant Trader Joe’s, and then reselling them at his Vancouver store, Pirate Joe’s.
The shelves of Pirate Joe’s are lined with everything from canned goods and cereals to baking mixes and pasta sauces, all bearing Trader Joe’s federally registered trademark logo.
Now, Hallatt has been slapped with a lawsuit by the U.S. retailer, alleging trademark infringement, false advertising, and other things that it says hurt the company’s brand.
The lawsuit, filed in May, alleges that not only is Hallatt not authorized to resell Trader Joe’s products, he is misleading people by dressing up the shop in a way that looks similar to the U.S. stores.
The retail giant also slammed Pirate Joe’s for marking up prices.
Hallatt admits that his prices are slightly higher than what Trader Joe’s shoppers would get in the U.S., but maintains everything he is doing is legal.
“I knew there would be legal jeopardy, but I knew I was operating within my legal right, so I decided I would defend myself if it came down to it, and it did,” he said Wednesday.
“We’re in a free market — Trader Joe’s sells products to everybody. There are restaurants that use their products, it’s on eBay, they’re on Amazon ... there’s all kinds of ways to get Trader Joe’s products outside of going into a store.”
There are no Trader Joe’s stores in Canada, and Hallatt said he opened Pirate Joe’s to cater to Vancouverites who want to “get their peanut butter and their cookie butter,” without the trip to Bellingham, Wash.
Hallatt, who just returned Wednesday morning from a grocery run down south, said he has filed a motion for Trader Joe’s’ complaint to be dismissed.
Vancouver lawyer Vincent Yip, who specializes in intellectual property law, said trademark infringement laws are jurisdictional. Since Trader Joe’s trademark is registered in the U.S. and not in Canada, the company may have a harder time pursuing an infringement claim, he said.