Overview
- U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. in Illinois dismissed Aimen Halim’s complaint on Feb. 17, ruling the case failed to plausibly allege consumer deception.
- The court said “boneless wings” is a common menu term used for decades and that reasonable diners would not be misled into thinking the items are deboned wing meat.
- Judge Tharp acknowledged Halim plausibly alleged economic injury for standing but found he did not state a viable claim under consumer-protection law.
- The ruling cited an Ohio Supreme Court decision comparing expectations for “boneless wings” to familiar terms like “chicken fingers.”
- Buffalo Wild Wings celebrated the decision on social media with a post defending the name and a BOGO boneless-wings promotion as online debate over the product’s nature continued.