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Now, the St. Louis-area company, which employees adults with disabilities, is facing possible hefty legal fees — or a rebrand.

The restaurant chain, Eat’n Park, hopes to resolve the issue without taking legal action, saying it wants to “move forward in a way that allows them to continue to sell their products and fulfill their fantastic mission,� a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Eat’n Park sells circular cookies iced with a simple smiling face in restaurants and online at . The chain has sued other businesses at seven times in the past over trademark infringement of smiley face cookies.

The round cookies baked and decorated by Smiley Face Cookie Co. employees feature colorful smiles in piped-on icing, sold at McArthur’s Bakery in Lemay and in 77 St. Louis-area Schnucks. The company, founded in 2021, produces up to 3,500 smiley face cookies a week.

“The term ‘smiley’ associated with cookies and baking has become pretty generic and there’s hundreds of bakeries throughout the United States, grocery stores making these cookies, calling them smiley face cookies,� said Scott Rinaberger, who owns McArthur’s Bakery and founded the Smiley Face Cookie Co. “Why us? Why are they coming after us?�

Rinaberger, who bought the bakery — formerly Kirkwood Bakery — in 2014, said the brand had previously received cease and desist letters from Eat’n Park, and got two more in 2016 and 2022, but the restaurant chain’s legal team never followed up.

“We’ve been continuously making these cookies, calling them Smiley Face cookies since Kirkwood Bakery days, which we believe, through our customers, was late ’70s, early ’80s,� Rinaberger said. “We felt we had precedent so we just kept pushing forward.�

But the letter they received in October was “a little stronger,� and McArthur’s legal team suggested that they address the issue, he said. Rinaberger and his wife and co-owner, Sheila Rinaberger, decided that it would be too expensive to defend the name, so they posted online, asking customers for new business name ideas.

To their surprise, the posting received great attention and support from folks in Missouri and in Pennsylvania.

“I think a lot of it is that David-and-Goliath story,� Rinaberger said. “We’re a small little bakery and this isn’t the first time Eat’n Park has gone after some (bakeries).�

Eat’n Park spokeswoman Courtney Caprara said the company is open to discussion.

“We are not seeking to profit from an agreement with McArthur’s Bakery or to stop their good work; we simply want to do what’s required by the law to uphold our trademarks,� she said. “We have numerous licensing agreements in place across the country as a result of similar conversations we’ve had with many businesses since earning our trademarks.�

The Rinabergers say their lawyers tell them they have a strong case, but the potential cost of legal fees is the couple’s biggest issue. Last week, Rinaberger set up a with the goal of raising $25,000, which would help cover fees, or support rebranding efforts, if necessary.

“There’s a lot of pride in the name of Smiley Face Cookies,� Rinaberger said. “We established it years ago and it’s sort of iconic to what McArthur’s is. ... Our cookie crew takes a lot of pride in that name.�

In the past few months, the Rinabergers have been ramping up growth. Several regional grocery stores carry their baked goods, smiley face cookies included. The couple hopes to someday get their desserts into stores across the country.

But for now, Smiley Face Cookie Co. is waiting to see how strong of an argument it can put together defending the name and how much money it will have to dedicate to a legal fight.

A decision to rebrand will be made before the end of the year, the Rinabergers said. A potential new name, Perfectly Imperfect Cookie Co., features a phrase that is already on the cookie packaging.

“If anything, I think that’s the most reflective, beyond the smiley face, of what reflects our team and our work,� Scott Rinaberger said.

Scott and Sheila Rinaberger bought McArthur’s from its former owner in 2014. The bakery opened in St. Louis in 1956.

McArthur’s Bakery and The Pioneer Cafe sells custom cakes, pies, stollen, frosted cookies and other desserts, in addition to breakfast and lunch foods at 3055 Lemay Ferry Road. Both McArthur’s and its sister bakery, The Pioneer Bakery Cafe at 210 Kirkwood Road, provide restaurant training and programming for adults with intellectual disabilities.