Hoffmann & Baron Featured in NJBIZ

Daniel A. Scola, Jr., Managing Partner, Hoffmann & Baron, LLP, was recently quoted throughout a feature article, ‘Tuesday’s gone?: A shore restaurant is battling a fast-food giant over a trademark that only exists in New Jersey.’ Scola spoke with reporter Kimberly Redmond, on the basis of this case and the issues it presents for business owners.

Scola commented on the current trademark dispute from a common taco phrase between a popular taco chain and a family-owned business. He provided insight on the intellectual property aspect of the situation.

Scola explained, “Gregory’s issue is that he has a single place and strong rights in that region. Taco Bell has a lot of restaurants in New Jersey, and they don’t want to pay a license to use the name ‘Taco Tuesdays’. So, they’re basically saying the only way of attacking the Taco Tuesday registration is through this cancellation proceeding.”

Scola elaborated, “Another way is for the shore restaurant to say they have abandoned the mark and they’re not really using it anymore, which is not happening here because Gregory’s is still using it.  Finally,  there is a concern the trademark will become too generic, which is the problem that Gregory’s is going to come up against. So, what this is really going to rely on is factual evidence.”

Scola concludes, “If I were Gregory’s, I would say you could make the argument that a lot of people use the term, it has value because everybody recognizes it and if you want this mark, you should pay us a lot of money. I think ultimately there’s likely to be a deal here.”

To read the article, please click here: https://bit.ly/45ipY7r