Vienna Beef has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Red Hot Chicago, claiming that the company either ripped off Vienna's recipe or is lying by telling its customers that its hot dogs are the real thing, reports the Chicago Tribune. Ret Hot Chicago is run by Scott D. Ladany, grandson of one of the Vienna Beef founders.
"I guess it's the great Chicago wienie wars," said Jim Bodman, chief executive of Vienna Beef, who with a partner bought Vienna Beef in the early 1980s. "We don't mind competing with somebody, but we mind somebody sticking their hand in our back pocket."