Restaurateur's widow sues Benihana

Hilary Potkewitz - Knives are flying again inside the Benihana restaurant empire as Keiko Aoki, the widow and third wife of founder Rocky Aoki, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the restaurant chain to try to stop its expansion overseas under the Benihana banner.

Ms. Aoki, who lives in Manhattan, sued on behalf of her late-husband's trust, the New York City-based entity Benihana of Tokyo, which owns the name and trademark.

The lawsuit targets Miami-based Benihana Inc., which licensed the Benihana name in the 1990s and has since opened restaurants all over the U.S. It now runs more than 60 of the popular Japanese steakhouses, 25 RA Sushi restaurants and nine Haru sushi restaurants.

Ms. Aoki's lawsuit, filed Dec. 3, attacks Benihana Inc.'s intentions to open restaurants in Europe, Asia and Africa, which came to light earlier this year when the company registered the Benihana trademark with the international trademark licensing body.

“They don't have the full rights to the name,” Ms. Aoki said. “They know this, but they're trying to do it anyway.”

According to the suit, the licensing agreement granted Benihana Inc. the right to use the valuable name to open restaurants in the U.S., Central America, South America and the Caribbean only.

The rest of the world, according to the suit, belongs to Mr. Aoki's firm, Benihana of Tokyo, which already operates restaurants in more than 11 countries in Europe and Asia through licensing agreements.

But Ms. Aoki was alarmed to discover that in April, Benihana Inc. filed to register the trademark in Iceland, Iran, Monaco, Singapore, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia.

Furthermore, according to the suit, Benihana Inc. had filed the paperwork not with its own corporate name, but instead under Benihana of Tokyo, “falsely asserting” to have rights to the trademark in those countries.

Executives from Benihana Inc. declined to comment. The restaurant operator has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.

Ms. Aoki is trying to get a judge to prevent Benihana Inc. from using the Benihana name in countries outside the assigned territory, and force the company to change its marketing language to reflect that it only has locations in the U.S., Central America and South America. The suit also seeks legal fees and damages.

The embattled restaurant chain has been in and out of court since Mr. Aoki's death in 2008. He left six children, two ex-wives and a widow, and his will had been revised several times over the years. Complicating matters further, Benihana of Tokyo, the family trust, owns a 38% stake in Benihana Inc.

Ms. Aoki became the sole trustee of Benihana of Tokyo in the fall, after winning a two-year lawsuit in Manhattan's Surrogates Court against several of Mr. Aoki's children from previous marriages.

A businesswoman in her own right, Ms. Aoki has negotiated the exclusive rights to sell the Wonderbra in Japan and helped companies like Bayer and Sara Lee enter the Japanese market. She is now carefully examining other licensing agreements and paperwork executed on behalf of Benihana of Tokyo.

“I only found out about this [trademark breach] after I took over three months ago,” she said. “We need to do more discovery, to find out how and why certain things happened.”

Benihana Inc. recently reported financial results for the second quarter ended Oct. 10, announcing a loss of $3 million, or 21 cents per share, on revenue of $72.3 million, compared to the year-ago quarter when it reported a loss of $839,000, or 7 cents per share, on revenue of $69.3 million. The company spent nearly $1 million on legal fees during the recent quarter.