According to a story in The Detroit Free Press, David Wawrzynski says H.J. Heinz ripped off his concept for a better condiment package without compensating him.
So now he’s putting the squeeze on the ketchup giant.
“They took my idea,” Wawrzynski, 40, of Roseville said this month after suing Heinz in Wayne County Circuit Court for breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment.
He said Heinz rolled out its Dip & Squeeze ketchup container in February, two months after telling him it was no longer interested in his Little Dipper creation, whose key innovation was allowing users to dip food into a packet.
Wawrzynski said he had met with Heinz executives at the company’s headquarters in Pittsburgh in 2008, exchanged calls and correspondence with the company and even was asked to produce 100 samples of his invention to test on a focus group. Then the company backed out.
Heinz spokeswoman Jessica Jackson said Wawrzynski’s suit is “groundless and has no legal merit.”
Editor’s note: The “Dip and Sqeeze” looks and acts similar to the Chicken McNugget sauce packs McDonalds has used for years. Makes me wonder if there is any intellectual property involved?
Photos by Detroit Free Press/Heinz.