Do you own, or are you thinking about opening up, a restaurant?

Aside from having some good food, you’ve probably also cooked up a name you like, but have you thought about securing rights to that restaurant trademark?  Your customers will identify you by your restaurant trademark and the earlier you can protect it the better.  Having a registered trademark will help keep your establishment more unique and will help you stand out in the crowded restaurant industry. One thing you should do from the very beginning is not limit yourself from expanding your restaurant down the road.

What starts as a single restaurant in a small town, may eventually develop into a national franchise with multiple locations.  Forgetting to protect that dream without a restaurant trademark might also lead to a significant amount of money spent towards rebranding. To put this in perspective, let’s say you have decided on the name “ABC Restaurant” for your establishment, but did not consider looking into trademarks for your restaurant.  No search was conducted regarding the name and you simply just opened your doors.  You are operating a successful business and it’s only a matter of time until you start expanding.  Meanwhile, someone in a different state decides to open up “ABC Restaurant” as well, but also decides to immediately file an application to obtain a restaurant trademark.  There have been no other filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and that person was granted a trademark for his/her restaurant. You continue to operate your restaurant and business is booming.  You have a couple of new locations already and you’re currently in the process of getting locations in other states established.

Then it happens.

You receive a cease and desist letter from the restaurant with the trademark registration asking you to change your name.  Your original location may have established some common law rights (you can read about those here), but it is likely there is not much you can do when comes do expanding, unless you are willing to spend a significant amount of money either licensing or fighting the registered mark.  Unfortunately for you, this all could have been avoided if you had thought about securing trademarks from the beginning. Regardless of whether you own a single establishment, have a few locations already, or have not yet opened your doors, you can benefit from applying for a restaurant trademark to protect your well thought out brand.

What can I protect with trademarks?

A trademark identifies the source of goods or services.  In a restaurant setting, you can protect a number of things, including the actual name and/or logo of the restaurant, any slogans you have come up with, unique names of items on your menu, or even products you sell with your name/logo (i.e. sauces, soups, wines, etc.).  As you can see, restaurant trademarks are not just limited to the name of your establishment.

What should I name my restaurant?

Be unique.  Most of the time restaurants have names that are very descriptive and/or common.  Own a pizza place?  “(Insert Italian Name) Pizza” is not a good name when it comes to trademark protection.  Marks that describe what you do are not strong trademarks.  These are the restaurant names that you see everywhere you go.  The more places with similar names that are operating, the weaker the mark, even if you do obtain a federal trademark registration.  By choosing a unique name and immediately protecting it with a trademark registration, you’ll likely have a better shot of keeping that name unique.

What if I haven’t opened yet?  Can I reserve a name?

Yes!  If you come up with a unique name, you can still file a trademark application to attempt to protect it even though you have not opened your doors yet.  Here, you would file what is called an “intent-to-use” trademark application.  You would have to renew this every 6 months (for a maximum of 30 months), but it’ll give you a head start on the process.  Once you open, you can convert this to “in-use” and you will eventually receive a registration (assuming there are no issues with your application).