Utah’s Traeger Grills has reached a settlement in its case against former company owners Joseph, Brian and Mark Traeger along with claims against grill manufacturer Dansons U.S. LLC, the maker of grills with the Louisiana and Pit Boss brands.
The suits alleged that Traeger family members and Dansons illegally used the Traeger name and reputation to promote Dansons’ outdoor grilling products.
Joseph Traeger is the person credited with inventing the pellet grill, an outdoor cooker that uses compressed wood pellets that feed a fire from an automated hopper. The Traeger family adapted the technique and started the Traeger grill company in the 1980s. The company eventually sold for $12.4 million in 2006 to a new corporate parent. According to the Traeger complaint, $9 million of that went to secure “the exclusive and perpetual right to use the Traeger name, likenesses and reputation in the wood pellet grill industry,” which transferred to Jeremy Andrus and Trilantic Partners when they purchased the company in 2014.
Traeger filed multiple complaints against Traeger family members and Dansons in 2018 in Florida and Arizona for using images and designs unique to Traeger. Andrus, now the Traeger CEO, said the lawsuits were aimed at addressing what he believed were blatant violations of Traeger Grills’ intellectual property rights.
“This is a significant step forward in the effort to protect our brand,” Andrus said in a statement in late December. “As we said from the beginning, we respect the right of the Traeger family to earn a living, so long as they do not violate their contracts with us. The settlement agreement reached today provides strong protections against the future misuse of the Traeger name, barn or likenesses to confuse consumers or promote other grills as if they were genuine Traegers.”
Traeger said it was granted permanent injunctive relief from Traeger family members and Dansons using the Traeger name, likenesses and reputations, including the Traeger barn logo, to promote Dansons or other grills as if they were genuine Traegers.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Traeger family members and Dansons will be permanently enjoined from “using or publishing or assisting or consenting to others in using or publishing, in any catalog, disclaimer, brochure, social media post, or other commercial advertisement, any pictures, images, text or videos of the Traeger word trademark; the names of Joe, Brian, and Mark Traeger; images prominently displaying the whole barn silhouette of the Traeger Barn located in Mt. Angel, Oregon; images of Joe, Mark or Brian Traeger or references to Joe Traeger as the founder or creator of the wood pellet grill in connection with the advertising, marketing, or sale of wood pellet grills and associated products.”
The settlement also prohibits public appearances by members of the Traeger family in promotion of the Dansons grill.
“We are pleased to put these aspects of the lawsuits behind us and will continue to press forward with our remaining claims against Dansons for misappropriating our trade secrets and copying virtually every aspect of our brand,” Andrus said. “We remain committed to protecting the Traeger brand, our investment and the trust and loyalty of our community.”