Kroger's Home Chef Battles Grubhub Over Sizzling Fork-And-Knife Logo Controversy: Who Wins?

Kroger Company's KR Home Chef division, flaunting a fork-and-knife logo, faces a spicy twist as a U.S. appeals court wasn't swayed by their claim that Grubhub's look-alike logo could confuse consumers. Grubhub is part of Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. JTKWY.

The legal tiff began as Home Chef and Grubhub used strikingly similar fork and knife logos.

The court, however, thinks consumers are not choosing Grubhub's services based on its emblem, rather, the decision to use Grubhub was already made before visiting the website or app.

In fact, the district court determined an insufficient showing of a likelihood of confusion under multiple legal theories and denied the injunction.

"Based on the current record, we do not see how a consumer interacting with the Grubhub House Logo could reasonably believe that she was engaging with Home Chef, particularly where the accused mark prominently features Grubhub's own brand name," a legal statement from the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circut read. 

Home Chef's business has been creating and delivering meal kits for customers, while Grubhub is an online food-ordering and delivery marketplace. 

On June 30, Kroger celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Home Chef brand, which crossed the $1 billion mark in 2021.

Hurt by a setback, Home Chef contends that the district court placed too much weight on the presence of the GRUBHUB word mark in the Grubhub House Logo.

A Kroger spokesperson told Reuters that Home Chef disagrees with the decision and is considering its options, while a Grubhub spokesperson told the news agency that it was pleased with the decision. 

Price Action: KR shares are trading higher by 0.69% to $45.42 on the last check Thursday.