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Jim Hasbrouck of the Fried Specialties stand at the New York State Fair is ready to do legal battle with the makers of the Twix candy bar over his concoction, the TwinX (Twix, stuffed in a Twinkie, wrapped in bacon and deep fried)

(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)

Last year, Jim Hasbrouck of the Fried Specialties stand at the New York State Fair officially introduced a new deep-fried concoction: A Twix candy bar, stuffed inside a Twinkie and wrapped in bacon.

At the 2014 New York State Fair: TwinX (fried Twinkie stuffed with Twix, wrapped in bacon) from Fried Specialties.

He called it TwinX.



Its fame reached across the Internet, even to the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

This week lawyers for the company that makes Twix sent Hasbrouck a letter: It demands he stop using the name "Twinx" and that he stop depicting a version of the Twix logo on his stand.

Hasbrouck has an in-your-face State Fair personality embodied by his motto: "You bring it. We fry it."

So it's no surprise he's battling back.

"I've got news for them," Hasbrouck said. "I'm a fighter. I'm not going away."

The lawyers for Mars, Inc., the makers of Twix, say they don't object to Hasbrouck's use of the candy bar in his concoction, nor do they mind if he lists it as an ingredient. The letter indicates they believe the name "TwinX' creates confusion with their federally protected trademark of Twix and that the hand-painted, cartoonish signs Hasbrouck puts on his bright-green stand are illegal uses of the company's logo.

In the letter, Mars Inc.'s lawyers also object to his depiction of the "3 Musketeers," "Milky Way" and "Snickers" logos (Hasbrouck deep fries those, too).

"Although our client appreciates your enthusiasm for its candy bars and understands that you may not have intended any harm to Mars or to its brands, your activities present some concerns for our client," Mars Inc. lawyer Loni J. Sherwin wrote in the letter emailed to Hasbrouck.

"While our client is not objecting to Fried Specialties' sale of deep-fried Mars candy bars per se or its truthfully identifying to consumers the ingredients of those fried products, it is concerned that your company's use of the name TWINX, which is nearly identical visually, aurally, and in overall commercial impression to Mars' TWIX(r) mark, to identify your product is likely to confuse consumers into mistakenly believing that Fried Specialties and its product are affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or otherwise related to Mars and its TWIX(r) brand, when such is not the case," Sherwin's letter states. "In addition, your company's use of TWINX may dilute the distinctiveness of Mars' TWIX(r) mark in violation of federal law."

The letter gives Hasbrouck until Jan. 26 to comply.

Hasbrouck, who said he's been on the phone with the lawyers in the last two days, isn't backing down. He said he owns the rights to the name he invented, TwinX.

"I mean they want to shut me down if I don't agree," he said. "I know they say they want to come to an agreement, but really, I'm just a little guy trying to do business. I'm a small mom-and-pop and I came up with something and they want to take it away."

Hasbrouck's home is in Marion, Wayne County, but he spends winters in Florida.

He introduced the TwinX as an experimental offering at the 2013 State Fair, and made it a regular feature in 2014. He travels to fairs and festivals throughout the country with the Fried Specialties stand.

He's even taking his fight to Facebook, where he's talked about setting up a "screw Mars Incorporated" page.

"I will not be bullied by no corporate giant," he said on a Facebook post today.

Don Cazentre writes about food, beverages, restaurants and bars for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Contact him by email, on Twitter, at Google+ or via Facebook.