Austin restaurant Bento Picnic can keep using the word 'picnic' in its name, a judge has ruled.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Austin restaurant operator Picnik that accused Bento Picnic of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

In the complaint, Picnik alleged that Bento Picnic's "unauthorized use of Bento Picnic has and is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, and/or to deceive customers and potential customers of the parties."

Judge Robert Pitman found otherwise, and granted summary judgment to Bento Picnic. In a final judgment signed on June 20, the judge dismissed all claims against Bento Picnic and ordered that each party bear its own costs.

"I feel so relieved. It's such a huge weight lifted," said Leanne Valenti, founder of Bento Picnic. "We still have some work to do. We're looking to get lawyer fees paid since it was a baseless suit that we don't feel was right to be pulled into in the first place."

Picnik founder Naomi Seifter did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Picnik opened in 2013 in a food trailer on South Lamar Boulevard, serving gluten-free grab-and-go breakfast and lunch items as well as butter coffee and bone broth. In 2016, Picnik opened a restaurant on Burnet Road, and today runs two food trailers in South Austin and operates a cafe inside of a Whole Foods 365 store in Upland, Calif., according to the lawsuit.

In addition, Picnik sells a line of bottled butter coffee drinks and butter coffee creamers at retail outlets including Whole Foods and Costco and online.

Bento Picnic, meanwhile, was launched by Valenti in 2015 and began by selling health-oriented Japanese bento boxes at the Texas Farmers’ Market at Austin’s Mueller development, as well as online and through a delivery service.

A year ago, Valenti opened a brick-and-mortar Bento Picnic location at 2600 E. Cesar Chavez St., which serves bento boxes as well as grab-and-go meals, curry bowls and soup.

Valenti said in the lawsuit that she began developing the concept for Bento Picnic while visiting Japan in 2011. In 2014 she purchased the internet domain name after making sure that no one was using 'bento' and 'picnic' together, she said.

Picnik sent Valenti a cease and desist in July 2018 and filed a trademark lawsuit against Bento Picnic in October 2018.

According to the lawsuit, Bento Picnic markets itself to the same clientele as Picnik, it has served similar products such as blondies, guacamole and crudite, curry, chocolate chip cookies and coffee, and it has a similar logo. In addition, “The words “picnic” and “picnik” are pronounced identically,” the lawsuit said.

In his ruling, Pitman disagreed that the similarities were an issue.

"The overlap between the two restaurants is only slight," he wrote in the summary judgment. "Characterizing the parties very different menus abstractly is perhaps the most favorable light in which to view this evidence for Picnik, but even so viewed, the menus' differences dwarf their similarities."

As for trademark infringement, "the two companies' signs and logos look very different," the judge wrote.

Valenti said that although the legal process was costly and stressful, she was humbled by the response she received.

"I'm just so grateful for the support of the community from the most unexpected places," she said. "Complete strangers walking up to me and letting me know they support me. It's hard to express that kind of gratitude."

Now that the lawsuit is behind her, Valenti said she is optimistic about Bento Picnic's future.

"That was a big burden, as it would be for any small business," she said. "It was a hard time and I'm grateful that we managed to stay operational. I feel very confident in our ability to continue on."