Restaurant Trademarks in the News
Taylor's Refresher, the well-known burger joint of St. Helena, CA, is now Gott's Roadside Tray Gourmet—a very interesting result to a complicated trademark dispute with the original owners of the burger stand. (www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/27/BA1M1CLPV5.DTL)
After operating and holding a trademark registration since the 1970's for Tavern on the Green (an iconic New York Central Park restaurant), the former operator of the restaurant is out, a new operator is in, and the city, as it turns out, owns the name. (www.observer.com/2010/real-estate/city-wins-battle-leroys-tavern-green)
Both of these cases point out that when it comes to trademark ownership, history and who has ultimate control of the services are of paramount importance.
