Sydney restaurants in star battle
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Who owns the star logo?
That’s the big battle now going over an upmarket Sydney’s restaurant’s logo.
The Star casino in Pyrmont and a prominent Sydney restaurateur might be taking their dispute over use of a signature "golden star" symbol to the federal court.
Peter Petroulas, the managing director of GPO Grand restaurants in Martin Place and Balmoral Beach, claims the Star Entertainment Group has infringed his copyright on branding for his venues that he has used since 2002.
Mr Petroulas cites the 2009 meeting he had with then Star casino chief executive Larry Mullin, managing director Sid Vaikunta and head of hospitality Victor Tiffany.
With the executives embarking on a redevelopment that included high-end restaurants, Mr Petroulas claims he walked them through his strategy during the five-hour meeting at his Martin Place headquarters.
As it turned out, the executives subsequently left the Star.
It became an issue when Star unveiled its current logo, a gold star featuring what may or may not be an "S".
According to Mr Petroulas, that logo looks almost exactly like one he has used for more than a decade.
He says it infringes his copyright.
Meanwhile, Star has objected to an application by Mr Petroulas to register two new gold star logos featuring the S letter, branding his Greek restaurant Subterranean Bar and Grill and Japanese eatery Sosumi Sushi Train.
Mr Petroulas has sent a "cease and desist" letter to Star, telling them to stop using the gold star logo, destroy all copies of it and remove it from its premises in Sydney and Brisbane.
And if they keep doing it, he says he will take them to Federal Court.
In my opinion it's a clear breach of my rights to actually see the application going through and be able to object to it," Mr Petroulas told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"They've denied me that opportunity."
Star has rejected these claims.
"The Star Entertainment Group proudly embraces the highest professional standards," a Star spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"We trademarked our logo after following the registration process to the letter."
"There were opportunities for objections to be lodged and that did not occur. Now we seek to protect the brand equity in the logo and the brand we've developed."
by Leon Gettler, March 29th 2017
