Cereality Cereal Bar & Cafe today
announced that it has filed a federal lawsuit in United States District Court,
Southern District of Ohio-Eastern Division against Cereals, LLC, doing
business as “Cerealicious.”

The lawsuit contends that Cerealicious has
infringed on trademarks of Cereality and engaged in unfair competitive
activities in the start-up, promotion and franchising of its own business.

In announcing the lawsuit, Cereality’s Chief Executive Officer, David
Roth, issued the following statement:

“We filed this lawsuit today against Cerealicious after repeated requests
to them to stop their actions. This became the last available recourse to
protect the Cereality brand, our investors, franchise applicants and most
importantly our customers, who should not settle for imitations.

“Since the launch of our first prototype store at Arizona State University
in August of 2003, Cereality has garnered an extraordinary amount of goodwill
throughout the world as our story became known. We cherish the support and
encouragement we’ve received and continue to be overwhelmed by the level of
interest from potential business partners. To date, we’ve received more than
6,000 emails from other entrepreneurs interested in sharing in our success and
we’re actively developing opportunities for them.

“As we go about diligently and responsibly creating those opportunities
and ensuring that the true ‘Always Saturday Morning'(TM) experience is
delivered one bowl at a time to our customers, others have recognized the
demand and in their haste to profit, are taking short cuts that are just bad
business.

“We take it as a compliment that others understand the potency of our
concept and are trying to recreate the Cereality experience with their own
business ventures. But these competitors must comply with laws that protect
Cereality’s trademarks and intellectual property, as well as the laws that
protect all parties involved in the franchise process.

“As the category leader, Cereality has invested millions of dollars in
developing a unique business model that has proven and quantifiable results.
We’ve built an unrivaled management team, hired the best advertising and
public relations firms and established a brand that is already recognized
worldwide. We also created a robust franchise system that will give our
franchise partners an opportunity to be a part of Cereality’s success. This is
a system that will deliver the highest standards of quality for our customers.
In that spirit, we are firmly committed to preventing the category we created
from being denigrated by others.”