In the fruit stands of the old city market in Omaha, Neb., where he worked as a child, Joe Monastero earned a nickname. The name stuck. Half a century later, Mr. Monastero fulfilled a dream by opening a restaurant-bar and naming it Joe Banana's. Everything went fine until 1999 when another restaurant-bar opened six blocks away. Fed up with deliveries and even wedding guests going to the wrong place, Mr. Monastero and his wife went to court.
More people are.
But a growing number of restaurants are opening branches all across the country, and more are advertising on the global Internet, so legal battles over naming rights are multiplying. U.S.A. Famous Original Ray's Licensing Corp., which has trademarked the names Ray's Pizza, Famous Ray's Pizza, Famous Original Ray's Pizza and The Original Ray's Pizza. If any other pizzerias open using the name Ray, the New York-based company regularly stops them with lawsuits or letters threatening action. People crop up all the time trying to copy a successful trademark, and we intend to continue stopping them. They are infringers,'' said Stephen Feldman, a lawyer for U.S.A. Famous Original Ray's.