Restaurants in the Leather District, Seaport battle over the right to misspell 'savor' in their names

Savvor, a Caribbean and soul-food restaurant and nightclub on Lincoln Street in the Leather District, and SAVR, a "spirited American bistro" on Seaport Boulevard in the Seaport, are fighting in court over the similarity of their names - or lack thereof.

Savvor launched the first salvo earlier this year with a suit in US District Court in Boston, in which it alleged SAVR's name violates its trademark and is leading potential customers astray:

Plaintiff has suffered damages as a direct and proximate result of Defendant's conduct in advertising, promoting, and operating its "SAVR" restaurant services in a manner which has created the impression that it is affiliated with or a variation of Plaintiff's "SAVVOR" restaurant. Such damages include lost sales, confusion, and deception of the trade and purchasing public, incalculable injury to Plaintiff's goodwill and business reputation for which Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law, and the expenditure of attorneys' fees.

Savvor says it applied for a federal trademark on the name in connection with restaurants, and that it has a state trademark on the name.

Savvor, which has been in business since 2012, is seeking a court declaration that the name of the restaurant on Seaport Boulevard violates its trademark, an order that the alleged upstart knock it off and destroy any signs, ads and other items that use "SAVR" and that it be awarded treble damages and attorneys' fees.

Not so fast, SAVR replies in a counterclaim

SAVR, which opened last year, says applying for a trademark is not the same as actually getting one and that, in fact, the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected Savvor's trademark application for restaurant use because it is similar to the names of other restaurants. SAVR allows as how a trademark examiner did approve of Savvor's use of the name for "sauces," which is not an issue since while SAVR uses sauces in some of its dishes, it does not sell or plan to sell the sauces separately.

The federal denial in turn means the state trademark is invalid, because Savvor answered "no" to a question on the state application as to whether it had ever applied for a federal trademark, SAVR alleges, adding had it answered "yes," it would have had to explain why its federal trademark for the restaurant name was rejected.

SAVR continues that Savvor has provided no proof that anybody seeking a meal has made the wrong choice in restaurants because of the supposed similarity in names. It then adds that SAVR is an acronym for the names of the owners' children:

S – Soleil & Stone
A – Alanna
V – Vivian
R– Rhea

And if anybody is owed damages, SAVR says, it is, because by trying to make it change its name, Savvor's owner, E.R. Enterprises,

[H]as engaged in unfair competition in an attempt to unreasonably restrict legitimate competition.

E.R. Enterprises has alleged false and malicious conduct with full knowledge that no such conduct has taken place, solely with the intent of restraining competition and trade and forcing SAVR to incur substantial and unnecessary legal fees and costs.

SAVR Spirited American Bistro has and will suffer damages from E.R. Enterprises’s conduct.

SAVR asks a judge or jury to rule that SAVR is not infringing on Savvor's name and that no consumers have been harmed - and to award it double or treble damages for Savvor's allegedly nefarious and anti-competitive actions.

SAVR's chef and co-owner has a separate name conflict that has not risen to the level of a lawsuit: The Seaport's David Doyle is a separate David Doyle from the one who has long run restaurants in Jamaica Plain.

This is not the first time Boston restaurants have fought over names.

The Dubliner, in Government Center, is currently fighting in court with a Washington bar with a similar name.

In 2022, a Brooklyn company called Faccia Brutto that makes Italian liqueurs sued chefs Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer when they opened an Italian restaurant on Newbury Street called Faccia Brutta. Bissonnette and Oringer eventually agreed to change their restaurant's name to Faccia a Faccia.

In 2017, the Milk Street Cafe lost a trademark suit against TV celebrichef Christopher Kimball when he opened a recipe and cooking-tips concern called Milk Street.