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How restaurants can distance themselves from third-party delivery

Attorney Michelle Schneiderheinze said a business may be able to claim copyright or trademark infringement if its menu or logo is used without permission.

MOLINE, Ill. — Quad City restaurant owners are trying to protect their brands as more people turn to third-party delivery services.

When News 8 last visited Bowlyou's in Milan, Ill., the business was receiving orders from the delivery service, GrubHub, without agreeing to a partnership with the company.

"And we don't have any way to contact the customer back, because the number comes in from GrubHub, so there's no way for us to follow up with the customer, so really the only way that you find out is when a customer calls you back with a complaint," said April Bowlyou, one of the owners at Bowlyou's Ice Cream and Grill.

GrubHub removed Bowlyou's from its application. 

But since then, other businesses have posted on their social media accounts they, too, are having problems with the GrubHub service. Those businesses said the services is placing orders without the business's consent.

RELATED: Restaurant owners concerned reputation will be marred by third-party delivery services

"Anybody wanting to reproduce anything from any business's website or materials a business puts out needs to have permission to do that," said Michelle Schneiderheinze.

Schneiderheinze has been an attorney for about 20 years. She said a business may be able to claim copyright or trademark infringement if its menu or logo is used on a delivery service app without permission.

"So, they have the right to protect their intellectual property, keep it from being replicated," Schneiderheinze said. "If they want to engage with these companies and they want to do business, they have a right to propose terms."

The menu and logo do not need to be registered to receive protection, Schneiderheinze said. A menu, when published as an original work, receives copyright protection immediately, she said.

Schneiderheinze said a formal letter asking a company to stop that infringement is often enough.

"It doesn't mean you can't go back, if you have been damaged, and get compensation for what you lost while they were doing it illegally," Schneiderheinze said.

A spokesperson for GrubHub issued the statement below in response to News 8's request about how the company selects and adds businesses, and if they add businesses without an owner's consent.

"We identify restaurants to add to our marketplace based on where we see local diner demand for delivery so the restaurant can receive more orders and revenue from deliveries completed by our drivers. The restaurant pays us no commission on these orders and is paid directly for the order since our drivers pay via credit card and handle the delivery of the meal to the diner."

Schneiderheinze encouraged business owners to talk to a lawyer if they are in a situation like this.

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