A small frozen yoghurt shop in Oakleigh called ‘Yo-Kli’ is defending itself amid a trademark dispute with fellow frozen yoghurt franchise ‘Yo-Chi’ that could be taken to the Federal Court if a resolution is not found.
Owners George and Effie Katsakis opened the business around three months ago and very quickly grabbed the attention of the fro-yo giants, who felt they were infringing on their brand in a “very deceptive” manner.
“About two weeks after opening, we got a letter of notice from a legal firm representing Yo-Chi basically saying we had to change the name and change several other things about the design of the shop and so forth,” Mr Katsakis told Neos Kosmos.
“We were absolutely shocked because we knew that there was no intent from us to even warrant a letter like that. We didn’t go in with that objective.”
The owner said that they did make a number of changes to things like flavour names, slogans used on their social media, though they have refused to change their name which has become the central issue.
Letters have been exchanged from the legal representatives of both sides, with the latest letter from Yo-Chi igniting the conflict.
“The latest letter gave us six months to change our name and that inspired the ‘war’ between us. From our perspective, it’s like we’ve given them a bit but now they want everything,” the businessman said.
“Being the bigger fish, they’ve got the money and resources behind them, so they’ll make it very hard for us. We feel like we’re being bullied. Like we’re being bashed into a corner and that there’s not much we can do about it.”
Mr Katsakis, who is also head coach of Heidelberg United, said that they’ve now sought out advice from a barrister as he looks to do everything he can to defend their case.
“We are up against a major company worth hundreds of millions. I’m just a battler that goes in and works day in and day out. We’re nothing of their calibre. One thing in my character is to be a winner so I’ll keep fighting until I know I’ve exhausted all avenue,” he said.
“If it does end up in Federal court, then I’ll have to be very mindful of the cost and expense that is going to incur. At this point, I’m not lying down for anyone. I’m saying that we’re here, this is our name and we’re sticking to our guns.”
The owner reinforced the notion that no ill intent was meant with the shop’s name and hopes that the issue has a positive resolution.
“I think reason will have to prevail in this matter because the purpose of our name was purely to refer to the fact we were selling yoghurt in Oakleigh. That’s all it was. There was no intent to go into competition, no intent to upset anybody. We just wanted to be seen as a yoghurt shop in Oakleigh,” he said.
“I could understand their side in terms of if we were challenging them nationally but, right now at least, we’re just a small little shop in the Eaton Mall called ‘Yo-Kli’.”
On the opposite side, Yo-Chi’s lawyers said Yo-Kli is “infringing the Yo-Chi trademarks” and “is at least likely to mislead and deceive consumers”.
Lawyer at Henderson & Ball Justin Lawrence told A Current Affair that the biggest problem is the “Yo”.
