ESquared and Laurent Tourondel Enter Licensing Deal

The saga of Laurent Tourondel and his former partner Jimmy Haber enters a new chapter today, as reps for Haber's ESquared Hospitality group announce that the two parties have settled their litigation and entered into a licensing agreement. From now on, ESquared will be able to use the BLT trademarks, which are owned by Tourondel, in exchange for royalties. Haber notes, "I look forward to further expanding the BLT restaurant brand through the use of the licensed BLT trademarks."

Following a messy divorce in 2010, Tourondel won the rights to the BLT trademarks. After the suit, Tourondel got straight to work on a new BLT restaurant, BLT American Brasserie, which has yet to open. He also opened LT Burger, which is basically a modified version of BLT Burger. Although ESquared has not announced how it plans to use the BLT trademarks in the future, the group will most likely expand one of the concepts it retained after the divorce. Those restaurants include: BLT Steak, BLT Prime, BLT Fish, and BLT Burger. Or, maybe ESquared will open new BLT concepts like BLT Chicken, BLT Sushi, BLT Bar, or BLT Sandwich. The sky's the limit, as long as the group is willing to pay Tourondel

In the next few weeks, chef Tourondel will open Arlington Club on the UES
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