Wolfgang Puck vs. Wolfgang Zwiener

Two restaurant chains with similar names are about to square off in a trademark-infringement showdown

By Stacy Perman

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Puck caters the annual Governor's Ball following the Oscar ceremony. Getty Images

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Earlier this year, a large sign appeared in Beverly Hills that read: "Coming Spring 2008 Wolfgang's Steakhouse." For most of the denizens of the gilded Los Angeles neighborhood, the name Wolfgang—especially when connected to a restaurant—means just one thing: Wolfgang Puck, the award-winning, Austrian-born chef who parlayed his culinary talents into a global brand, while launching a universe of restaurants (including Spago, Chinois, Postrio) that have become regular hunting grounds for celebrity-stalking paparazzi.

And so when the new restaurant appeared in April, located just a few blocks from Puck's steakhouse, Cut, that had opened two years earlier, not a few assumed that Wolfgang Puck was the chef behind Wolfgang's Steakhouse. But he wasn't. There was another Wolfgang in town: Wolfgang Zwiener.

It wasn't long before Puck and his associates were besieged by questions from the chef's cadre of longtime and well-heeled customers. According to Puck, who caters the annual Governor's Ball following the Oscar ceremony, there was a lot of confusion. Many approached him personally, including movie producer Frank Mancuso and actor Andy Garcia. "They said to me: 'Uh, why do we need another steakhouse in Beverly Hills?'" Puck says. Cue the intellectual property lawyers. Soon a legal battle was brewing.

Defending Your Turf

While the example of the two rival Beverly Hills steakhouses has elements of the dramatic, it is not unusual. Every year, scores of businesses find themselves on the receiving end of trademark infringement lawsuits. In general, the problem arises when a company establishes or uses a name, logo, or design that is identical or strikingly similar to an already legally established mark that confuses or misleads the public about the origin of a good or service. In fact, trademark owners are required to assert infringement claims or they can run the risk of being considered by law to have abandoned their marks.

As it turned out, just below the new steakhouse's signage were the words, in smaller lettering, "by Wolfgang Zwiener." A 40-year veteran and former headwaiter of acclaimed New York steakhouse Peter Luger's, Zwiener was in the midst of expanding his own brand of restaurants after successfully launching his first Wolfgang's Steakhouse in Manhattan in 2004 on Park Avenue, followed by a second location in TriBeCa.

And that, according to Puck, is where the initial problem between the Wolfgangs began. When Zwiener opened his New York eatery, Puck says many of his customers thought he had opened a restaurant in Manhattan. "I had so many people come and tell me that they didn't see me in my New York restaurant, and I told them it was not my restaurant," he says. Despite the frequent misunderstanding, Puck says, "I said I'd be a nice guy and not fight him. He was a waiter his whole life, and it wasn't in our backyard, even though it created confusion."

Instead, in March, 2007, Puck and Zwiener negotiated an agreement intended to "eliminate confusion." As part of the deal, Zwiener agreed to display his name prominently alongside any future restaurant, franchise, or licensee that he might open outside of Manhattan (including advertising), while Puck agreed to do the same should he establish future eateries, licensees, or franchisees in Manhattan.

A Rival Right on the Doorstep

With both parties satisfied, all seemed fine until Zwiener landed in Beverly Hills, Wolfgang Puck country. "Now they opened down here a block away from us," says Puck. "It's not like they opened in Bakersfield. Everybody knows me here as Wolfgang. His name is so small, it's like they are hiding it."

Puck's staffers claim they've received hundreds of calls from confused customers. One patron attempted to book her Christmas party at Wolfgang's Steakhouse, then withdrew her reservation after discovering that it was not a Puck restaurant. Even the celebrity press has conflated the two Wolfgangs.