Here’s an update from an earlier post regarding the trademark dispute that is at the core of the ongoing bankruptcy proceeding involving New York City’s once-famed, now-shuttered restaurant, the “Tavern on the Green.”
“New York City’s claim to the name of the landmark Central Park restaurant Tavern on the Green has caused crippling delays and left some creditors with little chance of getting their money, the bankrupt restaurant’s unsecured creditors committee said.” […]
‘The city’s conduct not only has adversely affected the value of the debtors’ assets, but has also burdened the debtors’ estates with considerable professional fees and expenses, which in tandem have sounded the death knell for any prospect of meaningful recoveries to unsecured creditors,’ said the official committee of unsecured creditors in court documents dated Monday.
New York City claims it owns the valuable Tavern on the Green trademark. Without the name and the prestige it conveys, the property is languishing, with its future in doubt, the committee said.
Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has yet to rule on the dispute over the ownership of the name and other intellectual property.”
I’m not a bankruptcy attorney, and I’ve never even played one on T.V., for that matter. But I can say this: the very fact that the trademark issue is a point of contention that’s raising unique issues in this bankruptcy proceeding underlies just how valuable intellectual property– including trademarks and branding rights– is to business today. So for now, the Tavern is still closed, but some were able to find a silver lining. I mean, where else can you get a stained-glass peacock for $75,000?
Pittsburgh Trademark Lawyer 