First MitchWich in Decatur? Probably Not.
Decatur Metro | August 2, 2010
Rebecca points out a post on What Now Atlanta? reporting that the first location of MetroFresh’s new sandwich shop concept, Mitchwich, will probably be on Monroe Drive in Midtown Atlanta.
As was reported in the initial post about this potential shop, proximity to MetroFresh in Midtown was going to be a factor in determining the first location. And while Decatur was in the running for the first “Mitchwich”, it looks like it wasn’t quite close enough to the mothership to win out.
Too bad, because the menu looks quite tasty!
But not all hope is lost. If the first Mitchwich can prove its worth, the What Now? post says owner Mitchell Anderson has plans for many more locations, including one in Decatur.
I’ll preface this by saying that I have no legal training, but the first thing I thought when I heard about this concept was that the name is remarkably similar to the sandwich shop Which Wich. I think they’re based in Texas, but they at least have a few locations around Atlanta. Any chance that Which Wich would have legal grounds to challenge the Mitchwich name?
Anyone can mount legal challenges– the question is whether the challenge would be successful. In my experience, this is not easy to do, particularly if a) the name really isn’t the same, or b) if the challenger has no real business presence in the locus where the challenged business resides. The crux is the likelihood of causing confusion in the marketplace as to which business is which. Sometimes, a deep-pockets national entity will mount a challenge to a small, local business with a similar name, and even though the smaller business stands a good chance of prevailing in court, they’ll back down b/c they simply don’t have the $$ to defend themselves (happened here with The Marlay, formerly The Grange). I’ve seen challenges that involved names that were a lot more similar than these here that were unsuccessful on the part of the challenger, but since these cases are pretty fact-specific, who knows? Personally, I’m not charmed by the name (even though I love me some MetroFresh), but that’s another matter altogether…
Well I’m no lawyer either…oh wait, yeah I am…I’m thinking Mitch Witch will be changing its name if Which Wich ever challenges them. As soon as I saw the headline, I thought to myself, hey isn’t that the place where the guy dislocated his jaw eating a sandwich?!? But no, that was Which Wich. Not only was Which Wich in the regional market first, it’s the larger entity with seemingly more motivation to protect its brand.
I’m with Cuba, though, in thinking both names are horrible. I wonder if they sell Sammiches.
On the other hand, if I’m wrong about Mitch Witch’s chances in a legal fight, maybe I’ll finally open my bars in Decatur. All I need are two good spots downtown and here come Trick Store and Peon’s!
wait what?!?! dislocated his jaw by eating a sandwich at whichwich?!?!
Double dislocation of the mandible, to be exact:
http://www.ajc.com/news/north-fulton/wicked-sandwich-leads-to-440313.html
I can tell you that the names “Trick Store” and “Peon’s” do not incite in me a desire to imbibe delicious craft beers and snack on tasty nibbles; they do, however, make me think of adult toys and 18th century Russian field workers…
Oh, and “meow!” on that Sammiches remark.
Hmmm…I love MetroFresh and WhichWich equally, but I prefer to keep them separate even if we’re just talking about a name. However, this gives me reason to believe that my McDonaldz idea has some legs
Heh! Only if you’re not selling food…