Frito-Lay, Inc. v. Bachman Co.

CEDARBAUM, District Judge.

Plaintiff Frito-Lay, Inc. (“Frito-Lay”) is the manufacturer of “Ruffles” potato chips. “Ruffles” is a registered trademark. In 1983, Frito-Lay commenced this action against defendant Bachman Company (“Bachman”) alleging that Bachman’s use of the word “ruffled” in connection with sales of its potato chips violates Frito-Lay’s trademark. In its answer, Bachman asserted a number of counterclaims alleging antitrust violations by Frito-Lay in the marketing and distributing of its entire line of snack foods. Bachman’s third amended answer 1 contains six such counterclaims,…