King of Donair sues Alberta shops ahead of Calgary expansion

King of Donair is trying to maintain its savoury crownahead of expanding into Western Canada, starting with Calgary.

The Halifax-based restaurant chain is suing similarly named Alberta donair shops for trademark infringement, after doing the same to Vancouver's Donair King last fall.

"People get confused, and think we're out there already because of similar names," owner Norman Nahas said Monday.

'Rip off the name'

The company's lawyers have surveyed the country to find similarly named donair shops, Nahas said. Most have been out of business, or when contacted, agreed to remove the brand, he said.

But King of Donair is allegingKing Donair and Shawrama, King Donair and King ShwarnaeDonair, all registered under the numbered company 974819 Alberta Ltd., are active, and infringing on its trademark, according to a statement of claim filed in April.

"We were the first ones to introduce it, and ultimately I found it as a compliment that people are trying to take a rip off the name," Nahas said.

Royalty theme

A number of restaurants around Canada sell a varietyof thepita-wrapped, sweet sauce-toppedmeat sandwich, said to have been invented in Halifax in the1970s.

In Alberta, other companies have aroyalty theme, for exampleQueen Donairand Simon King Donairin Edmonton.

"Queen of Donair is different, butyou start calling yourself King Donair, it's quite similar to King of Donair," Nahas said.

Expansion west

This has been a big year for the Halifax King of Donair brand, capitalizing on the food's countrywide fandom.

Just last fall, Halifax declared the donair its official food.

"It definitely received a lot of coverage," Nahas said. "Itwas very polarizing, so it definitely got people hungry."

Calgary next

Then King of Donair tested the waters forexpansion west, home tomany East Coasters, with a highly publicized and welcomed pop-up shop inCalgary.

The events were so popular that one scheduled for Banff's Sunshine Villagewas cancelled by officials worried about crowd control.

King of Donair is eyeing Calgary for its first shop, while looking atother western cities, too, Nahas said.

No response

A Federal Court of Canada search shows 974819 Alberta Ltd. has yet to file a statement of defence.

However, King of Donairallegesit previously wrote to King Donair, asking it to "cease and desist from its infringing and otherwise unlawful activities," but to no effect, court documentssay.

"It comes down to having a national brand that there isn't really out in that area right now," Nahas said.

Calls to King Donair and its related restaurants were not returned.

Nahassaid he wasn't aware of any other active trademark suits by his company.