New York-based porterhouse pro Wolfgang Zwiener is making mincemeat of a trademark lawsuit brought by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, the New York Daily News reports.
A federal judge has ruled that Zwiener, the former headwaiter at Brooklyn’s Peter Luger restaurant who co-owns two steakhouses in Manhattan – can keep the “Wolfgang’s Steakhouse” sign outside his Beverly Hills eatery.
The restaurant is a T-bone’s toss from Puck’s two world-famous hot spots Spago and CUT.
“We’re very happy justice prevailed. Wolfgang is my name from birth,” Zwiener told the Daily News. “I hope Wolfgang Puck understands, and I hope it will end here so we can focus on our clients and continue to serve the best steak money can buy.”
Puck, 58, filed suit last month accusing Zwiener of hoofing it to Beverly Hills in an effort to undercut his business. Puck said his customers think Zwiener’s steakhouse is his and that they face “injury” when they sit down for a meal created by a “world famous and award-winning chef” but instead receive “pedestrian” fare.
Zwiener, 69, countersued, claiming Puck agreed to let him use the name “Wolfgang’s Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zwiener” under the terms of a settlement agreement hashed out last year. Too bad that he cleaved the “by Wolfgang Zwiener” part into a much smaller tagline.
The federal judge sided with Zwiener, saying the settlement “contemplated and expressly accepted” the Wolfgang’s Steakhouse name.
