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A confidential settlement will allow the Edwardsville Pierogi Festival to go on as scheduled this weekend, an attorney involved in the case said Tuesday.
Attorney James Haggerty said the parties in the trademark infringement suit filed in federal court in Scranton last year recently reached an agreement.
“The pierogi lawsuit has been settled and resolved. The Edwardsville Hometown Committee Inc. fought to protect the Edwardsville Pierogi Festival. The Edwardsville Hometown Committee Inc. has saved the pierogi festival forever,” Haggerty said.
The committee had been threatened with a federal suit by the Whiting-Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce Inc. of Whiting, Indiana, that has a trademark on the term “Pierogi Fest” for the event it holds annually in the Chicago suburb.
Rather than pay the “extortionate” licensing fees demanded by the chamber, the Edwardsville group responded with its own suit, challenging the trademark violation and seeking compensation for damages done to the local festival’s sponsors.
In a joint statement provided by Haggerty, the parties in the suit confirmed the agreement.
It also said, “The Edwardsville Hometown Committee Inc. acknowledges the validity of the Whiting-Robertsdale Chamber’s registered ‘Pierogi Fest’ trademark and the Edwardsville Hometown Committee will continue to be able to operate the Edwardsville Pierogi Festival. “
The fifth annual Edwardsville Pierogi Festival is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 8 and 9, at John J. Hopkins Memorial Park on High Street. Haggerty said he will be a judge at the festival Saturday afternoon.
Haggerty and the law firm of Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law P.C. , all of Kingston, handled the Edwardsville case pro bono.