You worked hard thinking of that perfect name for your restaurant, you spent a small fortune and countless hours marketing that name, and because of all your efforts that name has developed a great buzz and reputation in New York. . . and less than a year later another restaurant opens up in NYC with almost the same name as yours! To make matters worse, people are now going to that other restaurant thinking that it’s yours! What do you do?
If you had your restaurant’s name trademarked, you would call your attorney, he/she would draft and send a cease and desist letter to your competitor, and you would put that competitor out of business or at the very least force them to change the name of their restaurant.
GENERAL RULE: Trademark registration for the name of a restaurant or bar should be done for EVERY establishment so long as it can be done.
A trademark is any word, name or symbol adopted and used by a person (or that person has a bona fide intent to use that word, name or symbol and subsequently does use it) that identifies and distinguishes his or her goods or services from those manufactured and sold by others, and indicates the source of those goods or services. Names of restaurants, as long as they are not generic or merely descriptive, are terrific candidates for trademark registration. Additionally, a trademark is considered an asset which is not only valuable to a business but invaluable to a business if you are considering opening more than one establishment with the same name or ultimately licensing and/or franchising your concept.
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