Peso’s owner Brian Hutmacher took the stand today as the trial in

Peso’s owner Brian Hutmacher took the stand today as the trial in his case against the Matador and its owners entered its second day. Dressed in a blue button down–open at the top, no tie–and black slacks, Hutmacher carefully walked judge Catherine Shaffer through the details of his restaurant from the color he chose for the walls, to the light fixtures, to the metal work and chandelier and the menu designs. There is no jury, leaving the box open, so seven people from the defendants’ side sat there as they went through photos of every nook and cranny at Peso’s. Hutmacher’s attorney Daniel Woo is using the long list of details to create what’s called a “trade dress” claim. Nothing at Peso’s is trademarked or copyrighted–not the logo, the sign, the menu or the components of the recipes–but if Woo can convince Shaffer that Hutmacher’s eatery has a look and menu immediately recognizable to people as distinctly Peso’s, then using that same look for a different restaurant would violate a 1992 federal Supreme Court ruling allowing a business to sue another for infringement of trade dress.While Hutmacher wasn’t the most interesting witness, this afternoon Woo called David Westfall, a former Peso’s bartender. Westfall says he saw Matador owner Zac Melang taking pictures of the exterior and interior of Peso’s shortly before the Matador opening. Sporting a spiky/shaggy black do, black shirt and jeans, he also testified to the similarities between the two Mexican-themed margarita-slingers–from decorations to menu. Underlining Westfall’s claims (and by extension Hutmacher’s) during his cross-examination David Lieberworth, representing the Matador owners, twice referred to his clients’ restaurant as “Peso’s” before quickly correcting himself. Tonight Shaffer, a small woman with a curly grey ponytail, not exactly either restaurant’s target, will tour the joints with her husband.