The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's TESS program shows that S & A Restaurant Corp is the legal entity that owns the brand trademarks for Bennigan's. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Texas shows S&A Restaurant Corp as one of 45 debtors (pdf), which should mean that the intellectual property cannot belong to anyone until after the court's auction.

However, one IP attorney shares this:

S&A Restaurant Corp made an assignment to FORTRESS CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES LP of a security interest in the marks.  What that generally should mean, if properly drawn, is that S&A retained ownership and Fortress secured the loan based on the asset value of the trademarks. in 2003

Then, on July 10, 2008, S&A assigned its trademark rights to Metro Media.  There appears to have been no recorded reassignment of the security interest back to Fortress so Fortress may still be a creditor.

So, are the franchise owners in much of a driver’s seat? Since S&A Restaurant Corp is in liquidation, will private equity firm Atalaya need to take control of Metromedia in order to have a right to lead Bennigan's franchisees?

Attorneys, please weigh in.