Consulting firm sues Wolfgang Puck and his wife over failed .food deal.
As if the new top level domain craze couldn’t get any weirder, new TLD consulting firm Minds+Machines is suing Wolfgang Puck and his wife. The lawsuit was filed by Minds+Machines, Top Level Domain Holdings, LTD., a British Virgin Islands registered company, and Federick R. Krueger.
The lawsuit claims that Wolfgang Puck and his wife tried to interject themselves into all new TLDs Minds+Machines is working on and that Puck ceased to jointly promote .food as agreed.
The contents of the lawsuit summarize what Minds+Machines alleges:
A. Minds+Machines Offers Top-Level Domain Registration and Operation Services.
B. Wolfgang Puck and Minds+Machines Agreed to Jointly Promote and Apply for .FOOD
C. Wolfgang Puck’s Wife, Gelila Puck, Interjected Herself in the Relationship Between Minds+Machines and Wolfgang Puck
D. Gelila Puck Unsuccessfully Sought to Become Involved in the Top-Level Domain Business
E. Gelila Puck Interfered with Minds+Machines’ Existing Business Relationships.
F. The Parties Negotiated, But Did Not Enter Into, a Broader Agreement
G. Gelila Puck Became Hostile Towards Plaintiffs
H. The Pucks Falsely Claim the Short-Form Agreement Is in Effect and have
Threatened to Sue Minds+Machines, TLDH, and Krueger.
The lawsuit claims Minds+Machines has already spent $100,000 promoting the TLD. The lawsuit alleges Gelila Puck, who has no technical background, “became personally and emotionally invested in the top-level domain business and came to dominate the parties’ relationship.” She “began to tell her acquaintances that she was creating the “new Internet.” She also frequently told friends, acquaintances, and business people that she was the “next Bill Gates.”
The Pucks sent a demand letter to Top Level Domain Holdings, saying that it owned 50% of .FOOD, 50% of any TLD business that was the result of an introduction made by the Pucks, and the right to co-invest in any new TLD that TLDH works on. These demands are based on a a draft agreement between the Pucks and TLDH that TLDH argues was never signed.
It gets better. The lawsuit file is here.