The Dee’s Nuts lawsuit against MrBeast ended in December 2023 with a federal permanent injunction barring his snack company, Feastables Inc., from selling its “Deez Nutz” peanut butter chocolate bar under that name. The Jacksonville, Florida gourmet peanut company Dee’s Nuts LLC, which had held its trademark since 2012, won a court order and a settlement admission from Feastables that “DEEZ NUTZ” was confusingly similar to its mark.
Who Sued and What the Fight Was About
Brian Ditore filed for the Dee’s Nuts trademark in 2012 and launched the gourmet peanut brand commercially a few years later. By 2023, the company was in Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Walmart, and projected $4 million to $5 million in revenue for the year.1News4Jax. Jacksonville Company Dee’s Nuts Sues Company Tied to YouTube Star MrBeast, Claiming Trademark Infringement
Feastables, the snack brand founded by YouTube creator Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast), launched in January 2022 and sold a peanut butter chocolate bar branded “Deez Nutz,” a name taken from an internet meme.2Business Insider. MrBeast Can No Longer Use Deez Nuts on Feastables Branding3Business Insider. Dee’s Nuts Sues MrBeast Feastables for Deez Nuts Chocolate1News4Jax. Jacksonville Company Dee’s Nuts Sues Company Tied to YouTube Star MrBeast, Claiming Trademark Infringement
On August 25, 2023, Dee’s Nuts LLC sued Feastables Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1125), case number 3:23-cv-01006.4CourtListener. Dees Nuts LLC v. Feastables Inc.
The Trademark Argument
The complaint called “Deez Nutz” “confusingly similar and phonetically equivalent” to the registered Dee’s Nuts mark. As evidence of actual marketplace confusion, Dee’s Nuts pointed to Walmart.com: shoppers who typed “dees nuts” or “deesnuts” into the site’s search bar were shown Feastables’ chocolate products rather than the peanut company’s goods.3Business Insider. Dee’s Nuts Sues MrBeast Feastables for Deez Nuts Chocolate
The theory was reverse confusion: a larger, better-resourced newcomer’s mark overwhelming an established smaller owner’s brand, rather than the more typical scenario of a small copycat trading on a bigger company’s name.1News4Jax. Jacksonville Company Dee’s Nuts Sues Company Tied to YouTube Star MrBeast, Claiming Trademark Infringement Dee’s Nuts moved for a preliminary injunction two days after filing the complaint.
How the Case Ended
Less than a month later, on September 21, 2023, the parties told the court they had reached a settlement in principle.4CourtListener. Dees Nuts LLC v. Feastables Inc. As part of that agreement, Feastables conceded that “DEEZ NUTZ” was “confusingly similar” to the Dee’s Nuts trademark.5News4Jax. YouTube Star MrBeast Can’t Use Deez Nutz Name to Sell Candy Bars Anymore After Lawsuit by Jacksonville Company
On December 6, 2023, the court entered a permanent injunction. The order prohibited Feastables and its employees from “manufacturing, or causing to be manufactured, purchasing, importing, exporting, advertising, marketing, distributing, offering for sale, selling or commercially exploiting in any manner, snack foods bearing the Dee’s Nuts Mark, and/or reproductions, counterfeits, copies or colorable imitations thereof, including but not limited to, the DEEZ NUTZ mark.”6Yahoo News. MrBeast Ordered to Stop Using Phrase
The financial terms were not made public. Reporting at the time noted it was unclear whether any monetary damages were part of the deal, though Ditore was said to be seeking damages tied to sales Feastables generated under the “Deez Nutz” name.7ClickOrlando. YouTuber MrBeast Can’t Use Deez Nutz Name to Sell Candy Bars After Florida Company Sues8Tubefilter. MrBeast Feastables Lawsuit Deez Nutz Infringement Dee’s Nuts
What Feastables Did Afterward
Compliance was not immediate. More than a week after the injunction took effect, multiple outlets reported that “Deez Nutz” bars were still for sale on Feastables’ website.2Business Insider. MrBeast Can No Longer Use Deez Nuts on Feastables Branding Feastables did not publicly comment on the lawsuit or the settlement.3Business Insider. Dee’s Nuts Sues MrBeast Feastables for Deez Nuts Chocolate
In February 2024, Feastables rebranded and reformulated its product line. The peanut butter chocolate bar was renamed simply “Peanut Butter,” which completed compliance with the court order.9Tubefilter. MrBeast Feastables Rebrand No appeals or further litigation have appeared on the docket since the permanent injunction was entered.4CourtListener. Dees Nuts LLC v. Feastables Inc.