Legal News

A burger by any other name ...

By Richard Binder

Call it TEFKAF: The Eatery Formerly Known as Fatburger.

Richard Brown had opened a Fatburger franchise in 1991, but went independent when his contract was up in 1999, renaming his establishment "Biggie's Burgers & More." In 2004 Brown noticed that Fatburger had grown considerably and wanted back in. 

He may be regretting that decision after the parent company filed a preliminary injunction against him, claiming unpaid royalties of close to $50,000 and using unauthorized distributors. According to store manager Marcelo Moreno, Brown had been planning to cut ties with Fatburger because he had been having difficulty getting supplies from the company's distributors, linking the issue to two Fatburger Corp. subsidiaries' Chapter 11 filings last year.

Andy Wiederhorn, Fatburger's CEO, says the bankruptcy filings have nothing to do with the franchises, which are under a subsidiary that hasn't filed for Chapter 11.

So Brown is back to Biggie's Burgers & More.  Even there, though, Wiederhorn sees similarities on the menu that are too close to Fatburger's own and may take Brown back to court for copyright infringement.

Full story at OCRegister.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on July 08, 2010 (boomark / email).