New York, NY - Questions about who owns the $19 million name "Tavern on the Green"
New York City announced in October 2009 that it would be taking steps to assert its legal right to the name "Tavern on the Green." The name belongs to a world-famous restaurant, situated in New York City's Central Park and was reportedly appraised at $19 million. The license to run the restaurant is granted by the City of New York.After the restaurant's concessionaire, the LeRoy family, declared bankruptcy earlier this year, the city went about looking for a new restaurateur to take over the license. At the time, the request for proposal stated there was no authority to pass along the name Tavern on the Green" along with the license. The city then decided to challenge the LeRoy family's claim to the trademark in bankruptcy court.
The restaurant was originally named by Robert Moses, the parks commissioner, in 1934. Warner LeRoy trademarked the name in 1973, without challenge by the city. The LeRoys claim that they have proof of the legality of the original trademark, as well as proof that they have spent money to defend the trademark against other restaurants.
In response, the city decided to register the name "Tavern in the Park" as a backup name for the famous restaurant. However, in December, an examining attorney for the Patent and Trademark office issued an opinion that the name was essentially too generic to be considered a trademark. Owners of the "Tavern on the Green" trademark also charged that the proposed name was confusingly similar to their mark. This dispute highlights the value of a good trademark, as a business asset in selling a business and the need to register and maintain that trademark by defending it from use by other businesses.
Find out more about this story at A $19 Million Question.
If you have questions you would like to discuss with a business attorney, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. firm for legal counsel.
