Chosen by Asker

You need to provide the answer as to whether or not her allegation is true. If so, how did he own it? As a Corp/LLC, or with a DBA/Fict. Bus. Name? You'll need to find out if the brother has kept whatever legal claim, if any, up-to-date. If the brother states it was with a Corp/LLC then you can go to the Sec. of State in whatever State and check the name to see if it is valid. Same thing goes for the Fict. Bus. Name, you would just chk your County website. If his so-called ownership of this has expired then there is no basis. Also, her BROTHER would be the party that takes you to court, NOT your ex-wife. I've provided the Business Portal link for different Government Offices also the Patent & Trademark site for your perusal. Also, you might go to lawguru.com and you can ask the legal swami as well. Make sure you provide the State and County your Business resides in. Hope this helped.

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by Bastion

4 months ago

Asker's Rating: 

yes, but it doesn;t mean she would win - if it's her brother's, you ex has no ownership in it - it would be up to HIM to try and get the name back - if YOU want to keep name..you better trademark it yourself or anyone else can and then you would lose it - if brother stopped using it and didn't try and protect it himself, he gives up all rights to it - that's the law - thing about trademarks - you have to actually actively defend them to keep them - get a website in that name also to protect it - you can use it to put your menus and hours/location up on the internet - google "US trademark registration" - it will probably take you to the right website

by Doctor Deth- 4 months ago

does her brother have a restaurant right now thats been open for longer than your restaurant? Then she wont win anything except a good kick in the pants for wasting the judges time. Unless your business's name is taking away customers from another business with the same name, there is nothing to sue for.

by Peilthetraveler- 4 months ago

Did you and your wife own it together, but you filed as sole proprietor without her knowing? Did the restaurant originally belong to her brother under that name? Did he "own" the name but not the restaurant? Speak with an attorney. But (I'm not an expert) since her brother never trademarked the name, I believe she would have no case. You might also note that there are quite a few "La Mesita" restaurants in the country.

by tonalc1- 4 months ago

No, not unless he's still doing business and then it "may" fall under the scope of a type of common law trademark under certain jurisdictions. More information can be found here: en ...

by Jeff- 4 months ago

Hello, Great post. The most important part of business is advertising. This makes or breaks a business. Some of the best ways to advertise I've found are: 1. Offline promoting (business cards, flyers, newspaper and other print advertising). 2. Online promoting (buying banner ads, forum posts, email auto replies). The best method that's worked for me so far is handing out business cards. I don't do this in the usual way.... I buy them in bulk from a place online (they give the cards for free, I just paid shipping and handling...they also give a really nice free business card holder, it looks impressive). They're really high quality. I just put all of the info about my business on the cards, and I hand them out on cars at bus stations, malls, etc. It's worked out really, really well for me, and it's completely inexpensive =) www ... Good Luck with your business!

by Jimmie W- 4 months ago