The Rolex Deli

Sara Alexandre

Would you ever mistake a turkey club sandwich for a Rolex watch? Luxury watch brand Rolex doesn’t want to take the chance that you will. Rolex Deli, a café located in Brooklyn, New York, is now facing a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in Manhattan by Rolex, who claims the deli’s name gives the “false impression that defendants and their services and goods are in some way affiliated with Rolex”. Rolex claims the deli’s owner Shawqu Ali has purposefully chosen the name to confuse passers-by, and that the deli threatens to “dilute the distinctiveness of the Rolex trademark.”..Read More

Ali told the New York Post that there was nothing Rolex-related on the menu. The State Division of Corporations apparently approved the name before he opened four months ago but Rolex now expects Ali to pay unspecified damages, change the deli’s name and “immediately destroy any and all signs, posters, advertising, promotional or marketing materials or supplies” related to the Rolex name. Ali estimates it will cost “at least USD 30,000” to change his signage and store facade. Though he has vowed to fight, he says the issue has made him lose respect for the brand. His enthusiasm for the Rolex brand has understandably dampened, “I’ll have to sell my Rolexes now.”