Panda Express goes after another Phoenix small business. This time, a woman-owned food truck

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article mischaracterized what purposes Panda Express has trademarked the word "Panda" for.

2023 was shaping up to be a great year for Krystal Mack, owner of Trash Panda Vegan food truck.

In February, her business was an approved supplier of the Super Bowl LVII Business Connect program. She applied for a national trademark license in 2022 for Trash Panda Vegan and had big dreams of expanding her small business beyond Arizona.

Then in August, Mack received a cease-and-desist letter from Panda Restaurant Group Inc., the parent company of Panda Inn, Panda Express and Hibachi-San. The letter asserted that her vegan food truck was interfering with their global fast-food franchise.

The corporation filed a dispute against the pending trademark for Trash Panda Vegan, claiming the food truck's logo, name and overall business were too similar to Panda Express, and therefore harmful to the brand, according to court documents obtained by The Arizona Republic.

"Never have we been asked if we were Panda Express," Mack told The Republic. "Not one time has anybody ever confused us with it."

Panda Express claims Trash Panda Vegan will 'confuse' customers

In the Notice of Opposition — where Panda Restaurant Group is named as "Opposer" and Trash Panda Vegan as Applicant — Panda claims that the target audience for both its brands and Trash Panda Vegan are the same kind of consumers, and that by using a similar name, the vegan food truck will cause "confusion, mistake or deception by having the public erroneously assume or believe that the services emanate from Panda, or that they are endorsed, licensed, or sponsored by, affiliated or associated with, or in some way connected to Panda."

Mack told The Republic she believes Panda Express is using its limited vegan menu items to help their argument.

The Republic reached out to Panda Restaurant Group's attorney Masahiro Noda for comment. Noda had not responded at the time of writing.

After this article initially published online, a spokesperson for Panda Express offered the following statement via email:

“As a family owned and operated business, we never take for granted the privilege we have to serve communities alongside other dining establishments. For background, Panda Restaurant Group owns the trademark for the word ‘Panda’ for use in any restaurant service and have engaged in standard industry practice necessary to keep this trademark legally intact. Because this is on ongoing legal case, we are unable to comment further.”

What's on the menu at Panda Express and Trash Panda Vegan

Vegan options at Panda Express include vegetable spring rolls and eggplant tofu, which are reportedly only available at select locations. The corporation also has introduced a few limited-time-only items in recent years like vegan orange chicken, which is no longer available.

"A lot of businesses are tapping into that billion-dollar circle that vegans are producing now, just to have a money grab, whereas this is our lifestyle all the time," Mack said. The Trash Panda Vegan menu has no Asian-inspired dishes, as Mack's offerings focus on plant-based takes on soul food classics like sliders, mac and cheese and chicken wings.

"Opposer is a world leader in Asian dining experiences and offers restaurant services, café services, catering services, tea bar services, and gourmet Chinese cuisine, including vegan dishes," reads the Notice of Opposition, which is currently before the trademark trial and appeal board.

'We're not taking anything away from them'

The document later states, "Applicant’s Mark and Opposer’s PANDA Marks are highly similar in overall sight, sound, and commercial impression. The application for Applicant’s Mark covers services that are nearly identical to those for which Opposer owns rights to in Opposer’s PANDA Marks."

Panda Express' trademarked logo features an image of a panda cub inside a concentric circle.

Trash Panda Vegan's logo depicts a cartoonish panda sitting in a trash can and holding a burger.

There was also an alternate Trash Panda Vegan logo created for the Super Bowl, which depicted the panda holding a football instead of a burger, with a pink and turquoise circle around it that was supposed to represent Arizona, using a similar color palette to other Super Bowl LVII branding. The alternate version of the logo was used on limited edition T-shirts and merchandise after Trash Panda Vegan was named an approved supplier of the NFL.

"We just wanted to have the opportunity to grow, and now having this happen, it stifles us completely," Mack said. "We've put so much money and resources and time into growing the brand into what it is today, and to have to start all over is just detrimental to the business."

Mack said Panda Express initially asked her to completely cancel her trademark application. But she's been doing business as Trash Panda Vegan since 2019, and she feared having to start the brand all over again without the name recognition that fans of her food know and recognize her by.

"Trash panda" is a slang term for a raccoon, Mack explained, but she used an actual panda in her logo because she thought it would be cuter. And while she may be willing to revise her logo, she said the name is vital to her business.

"At the end of the day, I don't want to do any of those things. They're telling me, 'This is what I'm allowed to do with what I have,"' Mack said. "A big giant corporation (is) wanting to put their foot on us and stop us from growing, and it's like, we're not taking anything away from them."

Panda Restaurant Group has a history of lawsuits against small businesses

This is not the first time Panda Restaurant Group has taken legal action against a local business in Arizona. In 2020, the chain sued Panda Libre, a Mexican-Asian fusion restaurant in Gilbert.

"It’s not like every single panda out there is Panda Express," Panda Libre owner Paul Fan told The Republic in January 2020.

After months of back and forth between the two businesses, Fan decided to rename the restaurant to Kung Pow Restaurant, essentially starting over with a new menu and concept.

Kung Pow closed permanently in October 2021.

More recently, Panda Restaurant Group went after a family-owned restaurant in California, compelling them to change the business name from Panda Panda Chinese to Bamboo Bamboo Chinese, according to SFGATE.

Panda Express reportedly trademarked the word "Panda" for all use related to restaurant services in 2001.

What happens next for Trash Panda Vegan?

Mack said she will continue fighting to do business as Trash Panda Vegan for as long as she is able, but she fears her ability to pay legal fees will run out long before the corporation's will.

"I'm asking for the people to come and support us at the restaurant (her brick-and-mortar, Early Bird Vegan) and at the food truck, because it all makes a difference," Mack said. "Because we need that, you know, we've spent some money on legal fees and I'm sure there's more to come. And we want to be here to fight the fight."

'We just want to do more': South Phoenix vegan chef embraces community

Reach the reporter at endia.fontanez@gannett.com. Follow @EndiaFontanez on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Support local journalism and subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Restaurant chain Panda Express goes after Phoenix small-business owner