International Tri-Party Restaurant Brand Licensing and Consulting for a Luxury Hotel Project

Situation

We represented a U.S. based restaurant brand in negotiating a tri-party licensing agreement with the owner of a new, ultra luxury hotel in Latin America and its internationally recognized hotel manager, for a premium restaurant at the hotel under the client’s brand.

Approach

With parties based in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe, we focused on building an enforceable deal framework in coordination with local counsel given the various jurisdictions. To that end, we navigated issues around governing law, dispute resolution procedures and venue, submission to jurisdiction and the allocation of responsibility for procuring visas.

Further, given the popularity and international recognition of both the client’s restaurant brand and the hotel manager’s brand, the parties initially could not agree on which standards should govern operation of the restaurant, as each brand owner wished its own brand standards to govern. While our client appreciated that the hotel brand required its own standards to be implemented throughout the hotel, our client’s priority was to protect the integrity of the restaurant’s brand within the restaurant. We successfully advocated the position that a single standard of operations for the restaurant would be preferrable, as opposed to two dueling standards which could create conflicts and confusion, and collaborated with the opposing parties to develop a single standard that was accepted by all three parties.

Result

The transaction resulted in an agreement satisfactory to all parties, with well thought-out cross-border enforcement mechanisms, that protected the restaurant’s brand and standards in alignment with the hotel’s renowned international brand requirements.