BOULDER — The Kitchen, Boulder’s hallmark Pearl Street restaurant that specializes in locally sourced fare, is challenging Wolfgang Puck over Puck’s use of the same name.
Kimbal Musk, The Kitchen’s founder, said a formal protest was registered with the U.S. Patent office last week.
Musk said he met with Puck, whom he viewed as a role model, three years ago in California and discussed Musk’s concepts regarding use of regionally produced foods.
Last summer, Musk became aware that Puck had opened a restaurant in Grand Rapids, Mich., known as The Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck, and that others are in the works, including one at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.
Since then, Musk said he has tried to discuss his concerns with Puck and Puck’s company on numerous occasions, but the two high-powered restaurateurs have been unable to resolve the dispute. The story was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“I come from the tech industry,” Musk said. “What we did in the tech business involved incredible mentoring. Angel investors help entrepreneurs and guide them. There is a lot of sharing of ideas. We’re not opposed to Wolfgang sharing ideas, but his taking the brand is really sad.”
The Kitchen, since its founding more than a decade ago, has opened eight locations up and down Colorado’s Front Range, including its formal restaurants and its less formal venues known as Next Door. It also has a restaurant in Chicago.
Puck could not be reached for comment.
Last year, Musk also challenged a Loveland restaurant that had opened with the name Next Door, but the dispute was settled when the restaurant owner agreed to change the name of his establishment.
Musk said in discussions with Puck company officials, The Kitchen team proposed several variations on the name, but with no success.
“This is a wholesale leveraging of the hard work we’ve done to build our brand,” Musk said. “We really are doing good things. And he’s trying to create confusion in the market.”
Musk, who has trademarked several versions of the name, said the issue will move beyond the U.S. Patent Office if it is not resolved soon.
“It’s at the dispute level right now,” Musk said. “But this will go to court if he doesn’t change his name.”
Boulder trademark attorney Chris Archer said protecting a name as common as “the kitchen” could be difficult.
“You can’t stop people from using a term in its descriptive sense,” Archer said. “You can stop them if you’ve developed a secondary meaning.”
The Kitchen, through its holding company Kitchen Cafe LLC, has been adding eateries at a moderate pace. A year ago it raised more than $9.5 million in an equity round, after raising $6.17 million in 2014, according to SEC filings.
In 2014, Musk and his partners were named winners of the Rocky Mountain Sustainer Award as part of the Chefs Collaborative annual Sustainable Food Summit.
Puck and Musk haven’t competed head-to-head yet, although Puck once operated Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe at the Denver Pavilions on the 16th Street Mall. That restaurant closed in 2005. Puck continues to operate the Wolfgang Puck Express eatery at Denver International Airport.
Kimbal Musk is the brother of Elon Musk, a founder of aerospace firm SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla Motors.