City Wins Tavern On The Green Trademark Lawsuit

CENTRAL PARK, NY — A federal judge ruled in favor of the city of New York in a legal battle with a New Jersey-based company regarding the trademark of the iconic Central Park restaurant Tavern on The Green.

The city filed its trademark infringement lawsuit in March of 2017 against a company called Tavern on the Green International. The city and the company entered an agreement in 2011 that would allow the company to establish a Tavern on The Green brand outside of the tri-state area as long as the company did not link its franchise with the Central Park eatery.

According to the agreement Tavern on the Green International had to:

• Keep their business operations out of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and part of Pennsylvania;
• Clearly state that their businesses are "Not affiliated with Tavern on the Green in Central Park in New York City";
• Not use any imagery of Central Park or the Tavern on the Green restaurant;
• Not challenge the city's ownership of the Tavern on the Green trademark.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan ruled that Tavern on the Green International violated the terms of the deal by referencing Central Park in marketing materials for its line of restaurants, salad dressings and cooking oils. Sullivan awarded the city a summary judgement on many of its claims against Tavern on the Green International — meaning these claims would not have to be proved in a trial — but said the city failed to prove monetary damages related to the company's violation of the 2011 agreement.

"Reference to Central Park and the Central Park Location in its promotional materials plainly breach... the [2011] Use Agreement," Sullivan wrote in the ruling. "The purpose of the Use Agreement was to permit TOGI to develop its own "Tavern on the Green" business while avoiding any confusion with or association between TOGI's business and the Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York City."

In April 2016 the city sent Tavern on the Green International a letter stating that the city would take moves to revoke the 2011 agreement. Months later the company hired MBB Management as a consultant to help sell restaurant franchises, according to the lawsuit filed in 2017. Promotional materials released by MBB Management failed to follow the 2011 agreement, in turn violating the city's trademark, according to the lawsuit.

One passage in the promotional materials for the restaurant franchises even copied word-for-word from the city's website for the Tavern on the Green in Central Park, according to the city's lawsuit.

The city and Tavern on the Green International must decide how to proceed with litigation in the coming weeks, Sullivan wrote in his ruling. The city must come forward with evidence that Tavern on the Green International's actions caused the city to lose money in order to be awarded damages.

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