7-Eleven Inc. has settled a lawsuit that it filed in November against Seven Eleven Law Group LLC, a Chicago law firm that specialized in trademark law, and its founder India Rios, which alleged trademark infringement, unfair competition and trademark dilution.
“The parties have resolved this matter pursuant to a confidential settlement agreement and stipulate to the dismissal of all claims without prejudice,” according to the joint stipulation of dismissal filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois filed on July 24 and approved by Judge Franklin Valderrama. “This dismissal is signed by all parties who have appeared and is therefore effective without a court order. …. The parties request that this matter be closed.”
In the lawsuit, the convenience-store retailer said it uses a combination of green, white, red and orange in its various logos in stylized and non-stylized formats. “7-Eleven has developed goodwill, public recognition and strong rights in its 7-Eleven marks, which consumers have come to know and trust as symbols of quality and value.”
It added, “7-Eleven’s considerable success has enabled it to have a sizable legal department, consisting of a general counsel, as well as 21 attorneys plus additional staff members. These in-house professionals serve 7-Eleven regarding its legal needs across several areas of the law, including business and intellectual property law.”
Seven Eleven Law Group’s logos, color schemes and other marks that appear on signage “consistently appear in green and white colors that are evocative of the green and white traditionally used in rendering 7-Eleven’s … marks, as well as the green and white color scheme that appears frequently on 7-Eleven’s official website,” the suit said.
The similarity “is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake or to deceive customers and potential customers of the parties as to some affiliation, connection or association of defendants’ business with 7-Eleven, or as to the origin, sponsorship or approval of defendants’ goods and/or services,” the suit alleged. The use enables defendants to trade on and receive the benefit and goodwill built up at great labor and expense over many years by 7-Eleven, it said.
It concluded that the defendant is “being unjustly enriched at the expense of 7-Eleven and the public.”
7-Eleven had demanded a jury trial seeking to recover damages “based on defendants’ malicious, fraudulent, deliberate, willful, intentional and bad-faith conduct,” legal fees and other relief.
- 7-Eleven is No. 1 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 83,000 convenience stores in 19 countries and regions, including more than 13,000 7-Eleven convenience stores in the United States. In addition to 7-Eleven c-stores, the company operates and franchises Speedway and Stripes c-stores and the Laredo Taco Company, Speedy Cafe and Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits restaurant brands.
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