Warren Buffett's Dairy Queen Wants Freeze on 'Blizz'

Blizz Frozen Yogurt's 'Blizzberry'
Blizz Frozen Yogurt's 'Blizzberry'

Warren Buffett's Dairy Queenis in a legal fight with a southern California frozen yogurt company that pits the 'Blizzard' against the 'Blizzberry.'

In a legal filing first reported by Bloomberg, DQ argues that Yogubliz's 'Blizz Frozen Yogurt' and 'Blizzberry' offerings are "likely to cause confusion, mistake and deception among consumers" due to the similarity of the 'Blizz' names to Dairy's Queen's signature 'Blizzard.'

DQ wants a federal court to de-Blizz Yogubliz, contending "it is more than reasonable to conclude that when Yogubliz chose a term whose only significance is a shortened form of Blizzard, Yogubliz did so with every intention of trading on the fame and goodwill of Dairy Queen's mark."

The request comes in a response to a "pre-emptive" suit filed by Yogubliz against Dairy Queen that seeks to establish its right to use the names, after DQ threatened legal action. Yogubliz says it received a trademark for 'Blizzberry' last year.

Dairy Queen's 'Blizzard'
Dairy Queen's 'Blizzard'

Yogubliz's position is that its products use frozen yogurt, differentiating them from DQ's offerings. In addition, it says DQ's products are "based on the wholly unprotectible idea of freezing and serving milk and milk-based products with or without flavoring, coloring and/or non-milk products."

A hearing is set for August 23.

Meanwhile, could the other half of the 'Blizzberry' name be a target for another company that does sell frozen yogurt?

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