Billionaire Fertitta’s Landry’s Inc in Legal Battle over Name with Austin Distillery

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Landry’s, Inc., the privately-owned conglomerate of gaming and hospitality interests, under the belt of billionaire owner Tilman Fertitta, now stands in a legal dispute with a boutique distillery operating out of Austin. The distillery, named after its founder, Zack Landry, has been slapped with a lawsuit for using the Landry surname in its brand, a claim roundly disputed by Landry’s Distillery.

The backdrop of this legal stand-off is that Zack Landry, a third-generation owner of quarter horses from Texas, established the distillery in 2020. His aim? To cherish the passion for fine, rare bourbons that he inherited from his grandfather. The distillery’s products, Landry Oaks Rye and Landry Stakes Bourbon, can be found across a selection of liquor stores in Houston.


The Landry brand, as defended by Fertitta, spans various restaurant chains such as Morton’s, Chart House, Bubba Gump Shrimp, Landry’s Seafood House, McCormick, Schmick’s, and Joe’s Crab Shack. Landry’s extends its grasp to five Golden Nugget casinos spread across Nevada, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Mississippi, including the Wildwood Casino Cripple Creek in Colorado. Fertitta’s realm of control even straddles the sporting world, as the sole owner of the NBA Houston Rockets.

This escalating row over surname usage pits Fertitta against Landry Distillery. The Landry surname enjoys widespread usage across Texas and broader parts of the country, particularly within the south. Texas hosts a variety of businesses incorporating the Landry name, all unrelated to Fertitta’s Landry’s, and have operations ranging from petroleum to accounting services.

Intriguingly, Fertitta’s Landry’s was initially a nod to Bill and Floyd Landry – the original owners of Landry’s Seafood in Westside, Houston. Fertitta chose to retain the name after acquiring Landry’s Seafood in the mid-1980s, building upon this foundation to create his vast hospitality empire.

The contested legal dispute commenced with Landry’s Inc. filing its intellectual property litigation against Landry Distillery in March, having since been relocated from Harris County court to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Landry Distillery subsequently issued a motion to dismiss the case in August, with Judge Robert Pitman yet to rule on the issue.

Bear in mind, Landry Distillery isn’t simply playing defense, it’s on the offensive too, having filed a countersuit against Landry’s. The distillery is seeking a declaratory judgment action in the hopes of confirming its legal right to continue using the Distillery Marks now and in the future.

In the meantime, Fertitta continues to expand his reach, already having footprints in Las Vegas thanks to his downtown Golden Nugget. Despite owning a 6.1% stake in Wynn Resorts, his eyes are set on a bigger piece of the world’s most lucrative gaming market. Recently, he spent $270 million on acquiring 6.2 acres of prime real estate on the Las Vegas Strip. While the specifics of his plans remain shrouded in mystery, it’s safe to conjecture that there could be a new integrated casino resort on the horizon.

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