The Halal Guys Are Suing the Imposter Cart
It’s been a long time coming. But Eater reported yesterday that the Famous Halal Guys, who are currently gearing up to be the Middle Eastern Chipotle in an international expansion, are suing the longtime imposter cart that sets up nearby (evidently they’re called The Halal Guys of New York – who knew?) Anybody who reads this site on a regular basis knows the difference between the competing carts. And while the imposter cart has gained a following of its own, there is no doubt still a large number of people waiting in line on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th during lunch thinking they’re tasting the “famous” chicken over rice. The lawsuit demands an unspecified amount of money and a name change. May we suggest “The Imposter Cart”?
Posted by brianhoffman at 10:30 am, July 8th, 2014 under Famous Halal Guys on 53rd & 6th.
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12 Comments
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The NYDN article states that the real Halal Guys first found out about the imposters a year ago. How is that possible? We’ve been calling them the “imposter cart” forever now.
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I’m guessing that claiming they’ve “known” for years could potentially hurt their legal case, as for why they’re just now pursuing action. And as our cheesy friend indicated, we know why they’re doing it now.
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Honestly I don’t really know which is the real one. I just go to the one with the shortest line. They’re both pretty good. It’s not like I’m getting screwed out of my retirement, it’s a $6 drunk meal.
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Actually the cart on 52nd & 6th avenue which became a Halal Guys Cart a few years ago is now ‘The Original Halal’ cart or something like that. They are no longer affiliated with the Halal guys, but the food seems pretty much the same.
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If they screw with the timing in their complaint (of how long they’ve known about the ‘impostor’ cart), that can work against them bigtime. Hard to say they weren’t aware of the ‘similar’ cart across the street. And suing now (on whatever basis) after co-existing for so long also works against them. It’ll be interesting to read the complaint!
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The Halal Guys street meat is pretty overrated. I don’t understand how they got so popular.
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The case was filed on July 1, 2014 in the Southern District of New York. Case No. is 14 CV 4940 and is captioned The Halal Guys, Inc. v. The Halal Guys of New York, Inc.
Interestingly, the cart being complained of is not the cart at 6th and 53rd (which the plaintiff alleges operates under a noninfringing name), but rather the complaint mainly concerns a cart located at 14th and University Place operated by the Halal Guys of New York. It is alleged that that cart began operating in mid-May 2014.
The discussion of the location of the carts on 53rd and 6th in the Complaint seems at least to me to be very confusing — the carts are alleged to be on the Northeast corner but I thought the carts were on the south side of the street.
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Can you provide a link to the complaint? I checked earlier and it was only available thru a pay docketing service.
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I had the lamb over rice at Original Halal cart on 51st & 6th (?). There were no lines, but I regretted it. I had the runs, and still regretting it now.
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@stephenp: Unfortunately, the only link I have to the complaint is through a pay service. I can print it out and scan it in, but I do not know how to then make it available to the public.
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A free hosting site like imgur.
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If they expect to get start-up money and expand into other markets they need to protect their, if they don’t have one already, trademark.