Great work, Joe Dobbes! We are proud to have represented 4 out of the last 6 wineries that have been named #1 hottest wine brand by Wine Business Monthly.
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Join us in Spokane (February 8th) or Seattle (February 9th) for a collection of seminars geared towards educating hospitality and lodging businesses on ADA and Health Care Reform.
AFC Enterprises has asked the court to confirm that it may continue to use the POPEYES name after its licensing agreement with Hearst Corp., which owns the rights to the Popeye the Sailor cartoon character, expires.
The complaint reads: “The Agreement was never intended to and never has restricted AFC’s ability to use the name POPEYES® for its restaurant services as evidenced by paragraph two of the 2009 Amendment to the Agreement, which states: “WHEREAS, The Hearst Corporation, King Features Syndicate Division, (“Hearst”) and A. Copeland Enterprises, Inc. entered into an agreement dated March 11, 1976 relating inter alia to the use of the POPEYE cartoon in connection with POPEYES restaurants inside of the United States (the “Domestic Agreement”).” A plain reading of this agreement indicates that the Agreement only contemplated the use of the Popeye cartoon characters in connection with POPEYES® restaurants, therefore making a clear distinction between the Popeye cartoon character(s) and POPEYES® restaurants.
The case is AFC Enterprises Inc. v. The Hearst Corp. et al., case number 1:11-cv-04150, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The Board has affirmed a Section 2(d) refusal to register a mark for a collection of food products on the grounds of likely confusion with another registered mark for hotel, restaurant and dining services. Click here to read the full story.
The maker of the controversial Four Loko flavored malt beverages has agreed to label its products with disclosures stating how much alcohol they contain compared to "regular" beer.
Craft beer manufacturers and producers in other categories should watch related regulatory efforts with some caution. TTB has previously proposed that all alcoholic beverages contain a mandatory "Serving Facts" panel, though due in part to the efforts of various industry organizations, including those representing craft brewers, those proposals have been shelved -- for now, at least. The Four Loko case demonstrates that the FTC (which works closely with TTB in these issues) believes that relative alcohol disclosures are meaningful.
Among craft brewers' concerns may be whether their often popular "high hops, high alcohol" ales (some approaching or exceeding 10% ABV) might one day have to caution that they contain twice the alcohol of "regular" beers, or whether they might be required to disclose that the 22-oz. bottles so common to the craft beer category contain more than one serving. Small producers have also complained that requiring them to analyze content, print labels, and get label approval based on Serving Facts of each of their small lots of production will add costs, discourage product development, and favor large manufacturers.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (“DISCUS”), which represents spirits manufacturers and suppliers, this week released new guidelines (PDF) for marketing and promoting alcoholic beverage products via social media and other digital platforms.
While guidelines such as these are not binding, and not directly enforced by state or federal regulators, they may, over time, become “industry standard” practices that will influence agency interpretations and civil litigation on related subjects. This is especially likely to happen in the case where statutes, regulations, and case law may otherwise struggle to keep up with the pace of electronic marketing strategy, especially in the social media context. Similar self-regulatory codes have been adopted by the Wine Institute and the Beer Institute, though to date these have less specifically addressed social media issues.
Continue Reading...This week, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signed House Bill 3280, which creates new land use rules governing wineries on farmland. This legislation is an important step forward for the Oregon wine industry and anyone who cares about sustainable agriculture. The bill does however leave several important questions unanswered.
Oregon’s comprehensive land use system was a jewel of the 1970s. Back in the day, Governor Tom McCall raged against “sagebrush subdivisions, coastal condomania, and the ravenous rampages of suburbia.” Although the scheme he and his colleagues created has served the state well, its day-to-day mechanics can be Byzantine.
Continue Reading...By Laura Warf and Steve Ledoux, Davis Wright Tremaine
The phrase would ordinarily bring to mind lurid images of politicians acting badly, but not so in California, where the legislature hopes to lend a hand to hard working housekeepers.
On June 1, 2011, the California Senate passed SB 432, which requires hotels, motels, and other “similar transient lodging establishments” to use fitted instead of flat sheets as bottom sheets on beds. As defined in the bill, a “fitted sheet” is “a bed sheet containing elastic or similar material sewn into each of the four corners that allows the sheet to stay in place . . . .”
A serious violation of the “fitted sheet” requirement could lead to a misdemeanor conviction, resulting in a fine of up to $1,000.00 and up to six months in prison.
Continue Reading...By Chrys Martin, Davis Wright Tremaine
Garnishment is a legal process by which an employer must withhold funds in its possession belonging to an employee and send them to a creditor. However, some direct tips are never in the employer’s possession, and accordingly are not likely subject to garnishment.
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By Ryan Maughn, Davis Wright Tremaine
Restaurant businesses depend on private investors for capital. Fledgling restaurants need the funds to pay startup costs, while more established restaurants need it to expand, renovate, and maintain adequate working capital. Whether you interpret them as an appropriate correction to protect investors or an unnecessary restriction on the flow of private investment, recent amendments to securities regulations proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will undoubtedly make it more difficult for restaurants and other businesses to get that much-needed capital.
The sale of equity to private investors triggers requirements under state and federal securities laws. Issuers must either register the securities or sell them in reliance on an exemption. On Jan. 25, 2011, the SEC proposed amendments to its rules in order to comply with the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which changed certain rules governing private and other limited sales of securities exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933.
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By Sarah Bhagwandin, Davis Wright Tremaine
On Jan. 31, 2011, yet another federal district court, this one in Virginia, ruled that the individual mandate to purchase health insurance in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (the “Act”) is unconstitutional. That makes three for two: three federal courts that have ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that each individual citizen obtain a government-approved level of health insurance or pay a penalty tax, and two federal courts that have ruled against it.
You just got an “SSN no-match” notice – an employee’s name does not match his or her Social Security number. Now what? Is it grounds for termination? Should you give the employee a deadline for resolving the discrepancy? Should you ask the employee to submit new documents to re-verify his or her employment eligibility?
Continue Reading...Restaurant owners have many motivations for forming joint ventures; a primary one is to finance expansion. These arrangements go by many names, including strategic alliances and corporate partnerships, and they join complementary strengths: a restaurateur may be looking for money sources or an experienced local partner to replicate the restaurant concept in an unfamiliar market or nontraditional venue.
Continue Reading...By Sarah Tune
In an ideal buyer’s world, every potential buyer or bidder in an auction would be able to negotiate a full financing contingency as a closing condition to an acquisition. However, in a competitive bidding scenario or even in a scenario where the seller has considerable leverage in the transaction, a buyer sometimes must forgo the full financing contingency. A buyer may also choose to forgo the full financing contingency if it has room under its existing facilities and would prefer to use its bargaining power elsewhere.
Continue Reading...Due to the popularity of gift cards in restaurants and retailers, federal and state governments have increased their role in regulating gift cards. In this legislative update we’ll focus on “closed-loop” gift cards, those that are issued by a specific store or restaurant and which may only be used at the issuing store or restaurant. (“Open-loop” cards are those that are issued by banks or credit card companies and can be used at different stores or restaurants.)
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