"If I would have put Minneapolis Mix or St. Paul Mix, would it be popular in another state?" Lamb said. "A big-city name usually draws attention to a product. It took off incredibly fast."



Chicago Mix remains the best seller for the company, whose annual revenue totals less than $5 million. Very much a small business, Lamb on Tuesday had to delay an interview with the Tribune for a few minutes while she stirred a batch of caramel popcorn.



This isn't the first time Candyland has tussled with CaramelCrisp LLC, which does business as Garrett Popcorn Shops.



In 2008, while in Chicago for a trade show, Lamb noticed that Garrett was using the name and promptly sent the company a friendly letter asking them to remove it. It complied, according to Lamb, but a while later, the Lambs noticed that the Chicago Mix name had returned to use.



"We've been back and forth with Garrett's for years," Lamb said. "We're trying to be friendly colleagues of the business, and I think we were successful at being that way. It wasn't that we were spitting venom at each other."



Lamb said settlement talks were underway with Garrett, and though the suit was filed, it was never officially served on the company.



A spokesman for Garrett declined to comment Tuesday on whether there were any negotiations underway with Candyland, and said its combination of caramel and cheese popcorn was being rebranded for different reasons.



"Garrett Popcorn Shops is expanding into new markets and proactively started transitioning away from calling its world famous CheeseCorn and CaramelCrisp flavor 'Chicago Mix' to the more ownable 'Garrett Mix,'" spokesman Grant Deady wrote in an email.