Hooters and Twin Peaks, what’s the difference
By: Ainsley Brown
I was watching CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 last night and something thing caught my eye, which at first I believed to be a joke: Hooters was suing another restaurant called Twin Peaks – yes I said Twin Peaks.
In what has been deemed by some commentators as the battle of the breastaurants, for all the obvious reasons, the suit is actually between Hooters and one of its former executives whom it accuses of taking its trade secrets before his departure. Double entendres aside trade secrets and the alleged taking of them are no joke. Trade secrets are the life blood of a company as they represent a major if not the sum total of a business’s competitive advantage.
Trade secrets are defined under US Federal law as: (1) Information; (2) reasonable measures taken to protect the information; and (3) which derives independent economic value from not being publicly known. This definition while not a universal one gives you basic idea – trade secrets are just that secret. They unlike other intellectual property (trade marks, patents, copyrights) which face outward and are by their nature public, trade secrets on the other hand are internal. Given this internal/ secret nature it is therefore critical that employees of business sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements as part of their employment contracts.
Now back to the story.
The former Hooter’s executive in question, Joseph Hummel, is alleged in the suit filed in Georgia federal court of emailing a substantial volume of sensitive business information to his private account only weeks before his departure to the Twin Peaks development partner La Cima Restaurants. According to Hooters, Mr. Hummel walked off with many of its documents but specifically information relating to management, recruitment, distribution and sales.
Additionally, the suit accuses Twin Peeks which bands itself as “Eats, Drinks, Scenic Views” as coping in effect Hooters style branded as “delightfully tacky yet unrefined.” Specifically, Hooters claims that the iconic white tank top and orange shorts Hooters Girls are the cornerstone of the Hooters concept. As far as Hooters is concerned “Twin Peaks directly competes with [Hooters] in the market of casual dining restaurants with an all female waitstaff.” For it own part has differentiates itself by having its lumberjanes – a word I heard on Anderson Cooper – by having them wear a mountain-themed ensemble of flannel bikini-like tops paired with tan hiker shorts.
I will end by saying that I don’t know what all the fuss is about don’t people just go to these restaurants for their wings? Isn’t that their trade secret?
