Video attached to L&L email could trigger burger lawsuit

First there was Keizo Shi­ma­moto’s ramen burger, then came L&L Drive-Inn’s saimin burger and now there is the possibility of a lawsuit.

Legal action against L&L Drive-Inn is being contemplated by Jeff Shi­ma­moto, brother of Keizo Shi­ma­moto, the New York chef who is credited with starting the ramen burger craze.

A video showing Jeff Shi­ma­moto and his wife, Miho, appearing on Hawaii News Now’s "Sunrise" program promoting the original ramen burger was attached to an email sent Friday by L&L corporate offices to franchisees and select others, along with a company newsletter and a poster showing the L&L version of the burger that will be marketed as a ramen burger at mainland locations.

"They had no consent from me to use my (likeness) in their marketing materials," Jeff Shi­ma­moto told the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser.

The video was taken from a statewide broadcast and was posted on YouTube.

Jeff Shimamoto, an attorney, said, "They’re not able to send this video saying, ‘Hey, look at the buzz that we’ve created.’ This isn’t their buzz; it’s our buzz," he said.

"Because they did not get consent, I think they have opened themselves up to legal liability," Jeff Shi­ma­moto said. He has contacted a Hawaii attorney to explore possible legal action.

The possible action is not related to Keizo Shi­ma­moto’s ramen burger trademark applications, however.

Keizo Shimamoto started working on the ramen burger in 2010, Jeff said.

Keizo Shimamoto applied for a trademark for the Ramen Burger and his company-branded Go Ramen Burger on Aug. 2.

"This issue is not with ramen burger," Jeff Shi­ma­moto said. "I don’t want ramen burger and Keizo to get caught up in negative publicity," Jeff Shi­ma­moto said.

"This is a very personal issue, using my likeness for their own commercial gain, and that’s wrong."

Shimamoto called the employee whose name appeared at the bottom of the L&L email to franchisees, and when he asked why the video clip was attached, she said her boss instructed her to do it, he said.

L&L co-founder Eddie Flores denied using the video for the purpose of promoting the L&L saimin burger.

"All we did was took the video from whatever station, and we sent it to some of our franchisees and said, ‘Hey, take a look,’" Flores said.

"All I’m saying is that L&L is making up a saimin burger, that we already registered a trade name and that ours is bigger, better and less expensive," Flores said.

Hawaii state business registration records online give no indication that "saimin burger" has been registered in the state. Nor has the term "ramen burger" been registered in Hawaii.

The L&L newsletter said its mainland locations will market the saimin burger as a "‘Ramen Burger’ since most of our mainland customers are familiar with ramen instead of saimin."

The newsletter continued that the company "introduced the Saimin Burger/Ramen Burger on our official Facebook page and received over 500 likes, close to 100 comments and 200 shares. We also received great media coverage on it."

Flores feels he has "very firm ground to stand on" and is familiar with trademark litigation after quick-service restaurants mimicking L&L started cropping up following the Hawaii chain’s expansion to the mainland.