Dallas-based bakery Bisous Bisous Pâtisserie is attempting to sue a similarly named restaurant over trademark infringement.
Bisous Bisous Pâtisserie is a dessert shop located in downtown Dallas and owned by Andrea Meyer, a pastry chef. Six years after the shop opened, another restaurant and bar opened on the same street at Mckinney Avenue. The restaurant, which doubles as a bar, is named Bisou, a similar name to Meyer’s pastry shop.
The similarity in the names is said to have caused Meyer a lot of trouble. Since the restaurant opened on July 7th, Meyer’s pastry shop has received over 40 bad Google reviews meant for the restaurant. Meyer said delivery drivers are also confused by the similarities in the names, with many delivering the restaurant’s package to her pastry shop and vice versa.
Meyer had also had people show up to her pastry shop for job interviews when they meant to go to the restaurant.
“I’ve been through nine surgeries and bone cancer. And a pandemic and a mass exodus of staff this year,” Meyer complained. “We’re OK. We’re doing alright. And now this? I say no.”
Meyer’s lawyer has sent a cease and desist letter to the Clé Group, which operates Bisou in march. The letter requested that the restaurant stop using a similar name. It also asked that they agree not to register a trademark for a food-related business with the name Bisous.
Zack Truesdell Bisou’s partner said he didn’t think there are many similarities in the two names and would not say if the restaurant would change its name.
“To me, it’s two separately named things: Bisous Bisous Bakery is far different than our Bisou continental cuisine,” Truesdell says.
Meyer is well aware that she does not have the $150,000 needed to cover the lawsuit, so she has turned to her fans online for help.