Cookie Monsters

In February of 2007, Siegal filed a federal lawsuit through his company SM Licensing Corporation. He may never have registered the term "the cookie diet," he argued, but he owned it as a common-law trademark based on having invented the diet more than 30 years earlier. Furthermore he claimed that Moulavi's website amounted to "cyberpiracy." Siegal, the complaint alleged, had suffered "serious and irreparable harm."

Moulavi claimed he had registered the trademark fair and square. Now that he and Siegal had split, his marketing efforts had basically gone to waste, he said. And it cost him $4,000 apiece to change the signage and get Siegal's name off each of his franchises.

In July 2007, a judge ordered a preliminary injunction granting Siegal the rights to the term "the cookie diet." Moulavi balked and was set to appeal. The pair was ordered to mediation.

Neither side will divulge the exact terms of the agreement they finally hashed out, but each is claiming victory. In addition to selling cookies at his practice, Dr. Siegal sells them online (at CookieDiet.com) and in malls from here to Arizona to New Jersey. In fact, he says, his kiosk in the Boca Mall is the highest-grossing kiosk in the nationwide chain of Simon Property Group malls. Siegal says he was practically forced to compete with Moulavi because "we had drummed up production to tremendous volumes," and he needed an outlet for all the cookies. He says he's having fun with his newfound role as a businessman.

"Let's face it, the cookie diet is going to be my legacy," he wrote in a press release.

Moulavi now calls his program "The Smart for Life Cookie Diet." He won custody of www.TheCookieDiet.com. He touts no secret recipe, saying his cookies are organic, made by professionals at Harlan Bakeries. His stealth marketing skills are apparent: Radio DJs tout the diet, and a Sun-Sentinel writer recently blogged about using Smart for Life to lose weight for her wedding. At last count, Moulavi was running 42 franchises. Although he says he still respects Dr. Siegal, Moulavi scoffs at his thinking. "It's like saying 'I'm the first guy who invented a car.' Well, I came up with the Lexus. And I'd rather drive a Lexus than a Model T Ford."

"He went his way and I went mine," Moulavi says now. "Time will tell who's right."

Both doctors say they are too tired of battling each other to be concerned with newer competitors. But they'd better watch out: The Hollywood Cookie Diet, recently featured in various celebrity magazines, is on the rise. A box of 12 retails for $19.99.

Meanwhile, Dr. Siegal's cookies cost $56 for a one-week supply. Smart for Life offers a two-week program for $129. Pop into either doctor's office on any given day and you'll find their waiting rooms full — of chubby folks, not-so-chubby folks, even weightlifters getting ready to compete.

You could say that the personal relationship may have crumbled, but in the end, they might both be rolling in dough.