Another New Jersey retailer has laid claim to the "Shake a Paw" name and logo, contending that Jeffrey Morton of Oxford Puppy Group Inc. (Green Brook, N.J.) did not legally obtain trademark rights to the name in April 2003, as reported in "Shake a Paw Franchises" (June 2004).

In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey in March 2004, Allison Michelotti and Pedigree Pups Inc. (Toms River, N.J.) dispute Oxford's ownership of a validly registered trademark, and seek cancellation of its trademark registration. They deny allegations that they infringed on Oxford's trademark or engaged in unfair competition.

According to Dennis Helms of Flaster Greenberg P.C. (Cherry Hill, N.J.), the attorney representing Michelotti and Pedigree Pups, International Franchising Inc. registered the "Shake a Paw" trademark in April 1995, and licensed it to franchisees in New York and New Jersey. IFI entered into separate franchise agreements with Oxford, Pedigree Pups and other parties around that time.

Helms contends that Oxford, which severed its relationship with IFI in May 2002, applied for registration of a mark that was the same or similar to the mark owned by IFI.

In a prior suit, Morton and Oxford said they received a service mark for their "Shake a Paw" name and distinctive logo from the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office in April 2003. It alleges that Shake a Paw (Old Tappan, N.J.), Richard Geis, Pedigree Pups and Michelotti infringed on that trademark, and seeks an injunction to stop them from infringing upon it. [September 2004 PET AGE]