Ina Garten Reaches Settlement With Copycat 'Contessa' Food Line

Less than four weeks after filing a lawsuit in Manhattan District Court, Ina Garten — best known to audiences and cookbook readers as the "Barefoot Contessa" — has reached a settlement with a company she accused of infringing upon her copyright. In February, Garten sued the California-based O.F.I. Imports Inc. for launching a frozen-food line called "Contessa Chef Inspired" without purchasing the legal rights to the Barefoot Contessa brand. The suit alleged that because the "Contessa Chef Inspired" products featured a similar design to Garten's officially licensed "Barefoot Contessa" frozen food line, consumers would be misled into thinking the two were connected.

According to a statement provided to Eater, Garten's camp says the two parties reached "a mutually agreeable settlement" that will require OFI to cease production — and "destroy" — on its Contessa line. The statement:

Ina Garten announces a settlement of the lawsuit against O.F.I. Imports, Inc. and others over Barefoot Contessa's intellectual property rights. After Barefoot Contessa obtained a temporary restraining order, the parties reached a mutually agreeable settlement under which O.F.I. Imports, Inc. has now agreed to destroy all unauthorized Barefoot Contessa products and to ensure that future products sold under OFI's Contessa brand not use any Barefoot Contessa intellectual property.

Fans of OPI's "Contessa beef stew bourguignon" and "beef Mongolian" will now have to settle for the Garten-approved, non-knock-off versions.