The lawsuit centers on the pressure-release button on the outside of the Kodi coolers, which makes the lid easier to open . H-E-B told the Express-News it would prefer not to go to court but that it must protect its brands.
The retailer spends about $300,000 a year marketing the cooler, which featured prominently in the company's Super Bowl ad this year.
“At H-E-B, we invest heavily in innovation across our company to provide our customers the best quality products and customer experience available,” spokeswoman Dya Campos told Express-News. “As a result, we cannot be idle spectators while others use without permission the intellectual property H-E-B and its partners have worked so hard to develop.
Although portable coolers have been around for years, innovation, the growing popularity of outdoor recreation and other factors are driving 9% annual sales growth in the market. Competition among brand names in the cooler space is fierce with long-time household brands Igloo and Coleman going up against wildly popular Yeti. Going into the warmer months of spring and summer in Texas, H-E-B wants to be the preferred cooler vendor for its shoppers.
In recent years, grocers have had to deal with lawsuits over infringement of private label products including Target, whose Good & Gather line faces a lawsuit from a similarly named brand. In 2017, Kroger filed a suit against Lidl saying it's Preferred Selection brand was too similar to Kroger's Private Selection brand. Kroger eventually dropped the lawsuit.
– Krishna Thakker @krishna_thakker
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Labor and inflation challenges will test retailers this year, but experts also see opportunities like new e-commerce services, more personalized offerings and a booming digital ads space.
The growth of online grocery shopping is pressuring retailers to more effectively curate the large selection of products they offer.
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Labor and inflation challenges will test retailers this year, but experts also see opportunities like new e-commerce services, more personalized offerings and a booming digital ads space.
The growth of online grocery shopping is pressuring retailers to more effectively curate the large selection of products they offer.
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