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SALT LAKE CITY — A lawsuit between Traeger Pellet Grills and competitor Dansons, Inc. heated up this week when an Arizona judge on Thursday ordered Dansons not to use images or the likeness of Traeger’s founder for the time being.
A judge in the Arizona U.S. District Court granted Salt Lake City-based Traeger Grills a temporary injunction Thursday following a hearing on the matter Sept. 12. The decision marks an early win for the Utah company, which filed lawsuits against Dansons and its founder Joe Traeger on July 16.
Dansons, based in Arizona, was ordered to stop using the Traeger name, images of the Traeger barn in Oregon — where the company was originally based — and references to the founder or creator of the pellet grill in advertising, marketing or sale of wood pellet grills.
The company was also ordered to stop publishing “any statement that affiliates in any way Joe Traeger, Brian Traeger, or Traeger Grills with Dansons US LLC, Louisiana Grills, Pit Boss, the Founders Series grills, Dan Thiessen, Jordan Thiessen, Jeff Thiessen or Dansons’ products,” including product endorsements, the ruling states.
It also bars any public appearances in the U.S. that may communicate an endorsement. It’s unclear how long the injunction will be in place and the case remains ongoing in U.S. District Court.
“We are appreciative of yesterday’s ruling, which recognizes the problematic nature of Dansons’s efforts to confuse consumers and profit off the Traeger brand through the unlawful use of names and likenesses that were sold to our company many years ago,” said Traeger Grills CEO Jeremy Andrus, in a statement Friday. “We remain committed to protecting the Traeger brand, our investment, and the trust and loyalty of our community.”
In July, Traeger Grills filed a pair of lawsuits accused Dansons of using Traeger images and likenesses and Joe Traeger, as well as his son, Brian, of breach of contract. Joe and Brian Traeger are current employees of Dansons. The lawsuit stated Traeger owners paid more than $9 million to secure rights to the Traeger name and likeness when Joe Traeger sold the company in 2006.
The Arizona judge’s ruling Thursday came after a judge on Tuesday denied a separate injunction filed in the Middle Florida U.S. District Court to stop Joe and Brian Traeger from appearing in Dansons' advertisements.
"Dansons respects the decisions from both the Florida and Arizona courts, which reached opposite conclusions on the same issue. Make no mistake, at no time do we ever want to be confused with Traeger Grills," Dansons President Jeff Thiessen said in a statement to KSL.com on Friday. "We believe the Court in Florida was correct to hold Joe and Brian Traeger did not transfer the rights to their name to Traeger Grills and will continue defending ourselves against these baseless allegations."
