Overview
The Restaurant & Hospitality industry is a key part of economic growth at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Creating, building, and supporting strong hospitality industry brands takes tremendous focus not only on product and service development, but also on identifying, owning, and monetizing the unique IP that differentiates each hospitality company.
At Rothwell Figg, we advise hospitality industry clients on a regular basis. Our team works on cutting-edge issues associated with destination branding and advising on creation and protection of a restaurant or hotel chain’s name or logo, proprietary recipe or operational processes, or even the distinct features of the décor of the business itself. We have the experience and insight to identify and guide clients through the biggest branding, IP challenges, and evolutionary changes their industry faces. Whether our counsel is directed to problems as different as protecting the look of an employee uniform or implementing a social media initiative, trending hashtags, and online advertising campaigns, we understand the legal ramifications.
Our team helps to identify ownership rights, including copyrights, in all manner of creativity, ranging from the development of menus and marketing materials, to business website names and original works of authorship such as literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, including computer software and architecture. We also advise on trade secrets critical to the success of how businesses are operated, and in everything from multinational hotel conglomerates to food trucks, bars, and microbreweries, discussing with each client how to leverage competitive advantage resulting from their intangible and intellectual property.
Our experience includes patent prosecution and enforcement and legal counsel pertaining to geographical indications (GIs) that point to a specific geographical origin and strengthen the region’s overarching brand/reputation. Our firm also helps clients seeking to maximize the value of their IP assets through licensing, protection of rights if entering into franchise arrangements, as well as all collateral merchandising and branded logo, brand extensions, and affinity goods.
Any industry can be prone to copycats, and hospitality is not an exception. Litigation can be necessary when protecting unique brands in the hospitality industry. As a result, our litigators are fierce when it comes to prosecuting and defending trademark infringement, passing off, copyright infringement, and patent infringement. We work tirelessly with our clients to ensure their ability to deter infringements and act with great vigor when called upon to attack unlawful use of our clients’ rights.