How to end the Dominic’s vs. Duke’s lawsuit
Enough of our tax dollars have been wasted on this court battle.
Anne Mantia says Duke’s was trampling on her “Dominic’s” trademark. Apparently, she’s the only one who can make Italian food in Dayton. Granted, Reese Powers was an idiot about how he started the whole thing, using her trade name.
Now Judge Rose has ordered Duke’s to close:
Duke’s Restaurant said Tuesday, March 30, that U.S. District Court Judge Thomas M. Rose’s decision Monday to close down the restaurant as part of a civil lawsuit will harm workers and leave a void in a struggling city.
via Duke’s court-ordered closing will hit employees, community | Taste: Dayton food and restaurants.
But, the thing is- Anne Mantia doesn’t have a restaurant anymore. Hasn’t had one for years. She’s putting people out of work holding onto her dream from the grave.
So, if it’s worth so much, she should have no problem protecting her “trademark” by being forced to OPEN a restaurant called Dominic’s- and hire all the people she just forced out of work.
That’s how you protect a trademark. It’s also how you end the argument in the courts.
Actually I think it was Christie who played her cards wrong. If I remember, Anne stood at the podium seating people and never boiled a piece of spaghetti in her life, and she wasn’t all that friendly to strangers. But I do remember her screaming at the help on occasion, she struck me as usually being drunk. So, after Dick died in 02 & Sonny died in 03 Anne was on her own, she brought in granddaughter Christie. There were no recipes on paper, it was all passed down through apprenticeship, Christie went in the kitchen and documented what they were cooking. In the distribution of the estate Anne paid Christie to not share what she had documented, mind you, these are not absolute original recipes but what Christie was able to write down in order to manage the restaurant as she was hired to do. Christie did not have the presence of mind to keep it to herself until Anne died but somehow thought reincarnating Dominic demanded immediacy. And you are correct David, dragging all this family feud through court at taxpayer expense with their lawyers will in the end leave Anne and Christie both broke but will ultimately determine which one is stupid and which one is drunk.
It’s always the lawyers who win in court. In the mean time- people are going to be out of work.
I’m tired of workers losing out in lawsuits. Annie shouldn’t get a dime for all this- until everyone is employed again.
“being forced” to open a restaurant? really? can the court force her?
Would like to see a real comparison of the actual recipes since we have eaten at Dominics, Dukes Golden Ox, and Dukes, as well as living in Sicily/Italy for a year and eating out every day. The food was going downhill slowly the last year of Dominics Restaurant along with the absolutely rude treatment from the host/hostess staff. The wait staff were great but once you experienced the initial rudeness at the podium they had to overcome the poor image. We had overheard comments form different tables about the poor attitude and change in the quality of the food during several visits. As I tell students, “First generation builds the business, second generation lives on it and the third generation ruins it!” Not exact correct in this case but Dominics was doomed to failure from poor ownership/management in it’s last years. Having lived in Sicily/Italy and traveling to Rome twice for some great vacations I truly enjoy Italian food. Sadly the last few years of Dominics I had to order non-Italian meals as the garlic salad and pasta sauce was giving me heartburn and an upset stomach. My spouse is a Dayton born native and wanted to go there often. We ate at Duke’s Golden Ox many times but always had to go late in the afternoon or early evening to try and avoid all of the smoke. Hated to see it close. Great food and service with really good portions at reasonable prices. Dukes Restaurant is the only Italian garlic salad and pasta sauce I can eat and not suffer from heartburn and upset stomach. We have taken other friends there and they have all liked it. We were going as many as three times a week which may not seem like much but having to go 50 miles for lunch or dinner is a drive. But we always thought it was well-worth it for the great food and service. Service was always good and the staff friendly with Reece Powers stopping by the table to say hello. I am completely baffled how one individual believes their entitled to… Read more »
Settle disputes? The way we’ve always settled disputes. Center ice, no helmets, dropped gloves…….
My family & I ate at Dukes’s Golden Ox many times. The food & staff were wonderful. Loved the house dressing! Would love to find the recipe now that the restaurant is closed. We use to buy the dressing in bottles & take it home!