re: Prop Stop sends cease and desist letters to BRB and Sun Buns

You can only trademark the name and style of the drink. For example, a Hand Grenade is a registered trademark of Tropical Isle. The trademark extends to name and style of the cup it is served in since they use a speciality plastic souvenir cup.

But if you were to market the same drink mix combination but call it something totally different and serve it in a totally different container you may have some legal protections because you are not violating their trademark by not copying the marketing or trade design of the Hand Grenade.

Food and beverage combinations cannot be trademarked. It is the reason why Sam’s Choice Cola and other generic products exist.

However recipes can be kept confidential by using confidentiality agreements between employees and suppliers as a trade secret. The best example of this is CocaCola and Canes Sauce. Recipes only have copyright protection when they include instructions and are printed in a book with other recipes.

So anyone can make a sauce and even match it up to 100% as Canes and as long as it is not marketed as Canes Sauce and a copy of the recipe with instructions is stolen from a restaurant or a former employee spills the beans to a competitor. There is nothing Canes can do except send a letter threatening legal action, but you can still fight it and probably win as long as you are not marketing it as Canes Sauce.

The point of sending the letter is to scare you into submission but be prepared for legal action and spending thousands of dollars in legal representation if you believe you have not violated their trademarks.