Heads up, you’re about to read the words “Pike Place” a lot, because an argument about who has the rights to those words has become a legal dispute.
According to a Seattle Times story, the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA for short) has sued the Pike Place Fish Market, one of the market’s most famous vendors, for using the term “Pike Place” in non-market contexts, which the PDA says amounts to trademark infringement.
The dispute centers around Pike Place Fish Market’s non-market enterprises, including a warehouse it uses to accommodate its mail-order business and pre-packaged smoked salmon sold at QFC grocery stores. The Times explains:
In their lease agreements with the PDA, market vendors agree not use PDA trademarks in relation to commercial premises or operations of any kind outside the Market Historical District without prior written permission of the PDA, according to the PDA’s lawsuit.
But Pike Place Fish Market (which is famous for its tourist-delighting fish throws) says that it has trademarked “Pike Place Fish Market” and has used the phrase on its merch and products without the PDA complaining. The two sides have agreed to mediation that will occur in October, and both sides have said they want to avoid an actual court fight. The dispute is “nothing personal,” a Pike Place Fish Market co-owner told the Times.
Old-school pizza place reopens as Big Mario’s
The delightfully dive-y UW-adjacent Northlake Tavern and Pizza House closed down earlier this year when owner Abdoullah Abdoullah retired, but it’s been reborn as the newest Big Mario’s, the pizza chain owned by Capitol Hill entrepreneur Jason Lajeunesse. The new restaurant preserves some of the decor and menu items from the original, reports King-5, but will have something Northlake never did: all-ages seating. Underclassmen rejoice!
‘Twin Peaks’ landmark diner gets more ‘Twin Peaks’-y
The North Bend diner Twede’s Cafe is historic in its own right but is mostly famous for serving as the Double R Diner in David Lynch’s celebrated Twin Peaks TV show. But the two neon red Rs that were atop the sign during filming aren’t there in “real” life — or they weren’t, until the Twede’s owners crowdfunded them into existence. Now the diner has a brand new custom-made RR sign, much to the delight of Twin Peaks fans who make pilgrimages to the 80-year-old restaurant. “I had never seen anything like that, it was like living in black and white and suddenly seeing the world in color,” one fan from Pittsburgh told King 5. All right, calm down.
Shake Shack now doing drive-thru at Lynwood
On Wednesday, September 6, Shake Shack opened its first West Coast drive-thru at the Alderwood Mall. “On opening day, the first wave of guests can expect to receive custom Shake Shack swag,” says a press release, but you’re already too late — sorry! But you can still get Shake Shack’s crispy burgs and crinkly fries without leaving your car.