Third-party delivery services would no longer be able to post restaurant menus or offer delivery services without clear approval from the restaurant under legislation passed Thursday by State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, and State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago. Keicher is Chief Co-Sponsor of the plan, known as the Fair Food and Retail Delivery Act (House Bill 3205).
“Restaurants have a right to choose whether or not to participate in third party delivery services,” Rep. Keicher said. “Right now, some of these services are operating in bad faith and selling food from eateries that do not want to participate. For a business like a restaurant, where quality and reputation matter, this is potentially hurting their relationships with customers and they don’t even realize it.”
House Bill 3205 would prohibit third-party delivery services – such as Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats – from using or purchasing the name, likeness, registered trademark or intellectual property belonging to a merchant without obtaining written consent. They also would not be allowed to provide delivery or pick-up services without approval. Under House Bill 3205, affected restaurants would be able to bring a claim to court and recover damages.
“Non-partnered eateries have had to deal with frustrated customers who view an unauthorized menu and expect different items or prices than what exists in reality,” Rep. LaPointe said. “There’s no need for this, it’s important for these large delivery services to do the right thing and get permission from the start.”
“The reality of today’s economy is that restaurants and bars rely on third-party delivery services to meet the demands of their customers,” Rep. Keicher added. “Our bill protects their intellectual property by putting accountability into state law where it should be.”
House Bill 3205 now heads to the governor for approval.