Chobani yogurt and Droga5 sued for using an author’s trademark in a campaign

Author Dov Seidman is suing yogurt brand Chobani and its ad agency, Droga5, claiming that the pair illegally employed his trademark in its 2014 Super Bowl campaign. The author of "How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything”, states that the ‘how matters’ tagline of the campaign used his trademark illegally.He is also citing a tweet as part of the lawsuit, stating the tweet shows that Chobani and Droga5 knew trademark issues could arise because of the campaign.

@DovSeidman Thanks for inspiring the world to care about "how." Can you help inspire the food industry, too? http://t.co/erVULG89Hp

— Chobani (@Chobani) January 29, 2014

In a statement, Chobani denied the charges, stating: "Chobani chose 'How Matters' as its platform because it represents what Chobani has always stood for, including its use of natural ingredients to make wholesome and nutritious food. Mr. Seidman does not own a trademark registration for 'How Matters' and has never used that phrase as a trademark. “Numerous other companies use phrases including the word 'how' in connection with marketing language and corporate social responsibility phrasing, and Mr. Seidman himself argued to the trademark office that there is no likelihood of confusion in circumstances similar to these. We are confident that our use of 'How Matters' does not violate any legal rights of Mr. Seidman, and accurately portrays who we are and what we do."This year was the first time that Chobani advertised during the Super Bowl.