Mario Batali: Gordon Ramsay Plans to Give Back the Spotted Pig Trademark

Might the end of the great Gordon Ramsay-Spotted Pig trademark controversy be in sight? Earlier this week Ramsay publicly addressed his application for the UK trademark to April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's NYC institution The Spotted Pig, calling it "an innocent mistake." And Spotted Pig co-owner Mario Batali seems to agree. Talking to Eater Vegas about the whole situation, Batali says that Ramsay is "doing the right thing and he's going to give [the trademark] back to them." Indeed, Batali only assumes the best, explaining:

I don't think it was an intentional shot across the bow by Gordon [Ramsay]. I think his team is just very smart and they're trying to build businesses. There's got to be a thousand other animals that they could have chosen besides the Spotted Pig. A striped minx, for example. ... However it slipped through. Whatever. It didn't make him look great but if he did the right thing, which is what he's doing, just letting them have it, then he's cool. It's was like, whoops, pal, not fuck you. He's a really smart and very cool dude who has a lot of shit going on.

Batali's statements are somewhat a mirror of what Ramsay told the Daily Mail, explaining he'd never met Batali and there was no malice intended in the trademark. So maybe Batali is off the Gordon Ramsay shitlist? Either way, remaining on that shitlist following this Spotted Pig controversy are Anthony Bourdain, who called the trademark move "shameful" and Jamie Oliver, who declared that, "We like originals" in London.

Anyway, as of now the UK trademark remains registered under Gordon Ramsay Holdings International, so it's yet to be seen if Ramsay does indeed return the trademark as Batali indicated. Stay tuned for what one can only hope is the conclusion to this whole controversy.

· Mario Batali on Expanding in Vegas, The Spotted Pig Fracas and Orange Crocs [Eater Vegas]
· All Gordon Ramsay Coverage on Eater [-E-]