Logan Farms Sues Sara Lee and Honey Baked Hams for Patent Infringement

In an effort to protect the patents he has been granted for his spiral slicing machine and spiral sliced boneless meats, Logan Farms' owner and CEO, Pink Logan, has filed suit against Sara Lee and Honey Baked Hams, two of the nation's largest meat processing companies.

On Apr. 18, 1989 the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued Logan patent number 4,821,635 to cover his spiral slicing meat machine that would spiral slice boneless meats. Prior to that, all other spiral slicing machines would only slice bone-in hams. On Jul. 9, 1991 the trademark office grant Pink a second patent, number 5,030,472, for a boneless spiral sliced piece of meat. Because of objections from the competition, Logan resubmitted his product patent to the U.S. Patent Office for a reissue and reexamination of the patent. On Nov. 5, 1996, Logan was reissued his product patent with a new number, RE 35,374.

In the spring of 1997, Logan Farms began notifying other companies that sold spiraled sliced boneless meats that were in violation of his patent and ordered them to cease production or sign a license agreement. In return many companies agreed to stop making spiral sliced meats or sign a license agreement. Honey Baked Hams and Sara Lee were the only two exceptions. These cases are scheduled to go to trial in federal district court at Lake Charles, LA, in June 1999.

Logan Farms (Houston, TX) provides 21 franchised stores in six states with thousands of spiral sliced hams, rib-eye roast, and spiral sliced honey glazed turkey breasts.