Owners of the Ravens Soup & Sandwich shop on the corner of Sunnyside and Seneca have until Dec. 8 to change their branding after Carleton threatened them with legal action over the “Ravens” brand.
The owners and the university are still in negotiations, said co-owner Sam Awad, adding he hopes to receive money to rebrand and change the name.
“We were trying to negotiate to have [Carleton] give us money to change our name and print new flyers and menus,” he said. “[Carleton] said they would get back to us, but they haven’t yet.”
Awad, who co-owns the shop with his brother and father, said they want to comply with the university’s wishes and are open to rebranding, but monetary issues are getting in the way.
“We’d rather hear from Carleton sooner than later so we could save up to rebrand,” Awad said, in the event Carleton does not provide any money to the shop. “Rent is coming up around this time as well, so this is the worst time to have this happen to us.”
Chris Cline, a Carleton media relations officer, confirmed the university sent a letter to the shop requesting it stop using the branded “Ravens” name.
“The restaurant is in violation of the trademark and we have advised the owners of this fact and requested that the restaurant signs and any marketing materials be changed,” he said in an email. He did not say whether the university would offer any money to assist the shop in rebranding.
The store opened its doors Sept. 8 and was approached by Ed Kane, assistant vice-president (university services) less than a week later about the legal problems with its branding.
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