Michael Atkins - Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Recommend Trademark Tiff Motivates Seattle Restaurant to Change Its Name (Email)

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One of my local joints, The Publican, is now called the Burgundian Tavern.

Why?

A trademark problem. Apparently, they tussled with a Chicago restaurant of the same name soon after opening.

The Seattle owner called the whole thing “an unfortunate mess,” and a writer reported the establishment “had already spent more money on lawyers than made him comfortable.”

Two things come to mind. First, there’s seemingly little chance of confusion between a restaurant in Chicago and a restaurant in Seattle, even if they have the same name. And unless the Chicago restaurant has some sort of presence here, its trademark rights probably would be junior to the Seattle restaurant’s unless and until the Chicago restaurant started doing business here — notwithstanding its federal registration.

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Copyright © 2006-2021, Michael G. Atkins. All rights reserved. I'm a partner and Seattle intellectual property attorney at Atkins Intellectual Property, PLLC, where I focus my practice on issues involving the Lanham Act, including trademark infringement, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin, counterfeiting, cybersquatting, trademark licensing, trademark applications, trademark registrations, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), and the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Thanks for checking out my blog. Please visit again soon!