Mi Cocina Mexican eateries, a chain of 15 restaurants under the Dallas-based partner MCrowd Restaurant Group, has filed a civil lawsuit that could devour Denver restaurateur Saul Sierra and his two Mi Cocina locations here.
Sierra, who opened his first Mi Cocina Grille in 1995 at age 20, has received cease-and-desist letters from the Texas restaurant Goliath for years but ignored the letters and follow-up phone calls to the point where he was recently served with a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Mi Cocina Ltd. is suing Sierra, owner of Mi Cocina Mexican Restaurant at 1600 W. Belleview Ave. and Mi Cocina Express at 137 W. County Line Road for U.S. trademark infringement. The U.S. trademark, which trumps Sierra’s Colorado secretary of state registration of the name, was issued to Mi Cocina Ltd. on Feb. 8, 2000, according to the lawsuit.
Sierra, however, said he registered the name with Colorado’s secretary of state in 1995, which would protect his rights to the name Mi Cocina in Colorado because the U.S. trademark was issued after Sierra was in business.
But the Denver restaurateur has had trouble proving his claim because records going back that far are archived in Pueblo, and he has yet to access them.
“They probably want to come to Colorado someday and use the name,” Sierra said about the Texas team’s possible motive. Two calls to David A. Carman, one of Mi Cocina Ltd’s Texas- based lawyers, were not returned Friday.
Sierra has hired a local attorney, but if the case drags on and goes to a jury trial, as the plaintiff is asking, he could accumulate attorney’s fees up to $250,000, he said.
“How much can I handle? It depends on how much I can borrow, beg and steal,” Sierra said. “This is the only way I know how to make a living.”
The two parties have an initial court date of April 5, but Sierra says he’s willing to walk away if the Texas chain wants to pay him for the Colorado rights to the name or buy him out of the restaurants. “They’ll throw money at the problem and hope that I go under,” he said.
Blessed bash.
Longtime law firm Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP celebrated the renovations of its three-floor offices at the top of the Tabor Center with an open house attended by roughly 500 guests Wednesday.
Among local notables, including Gov. Bill Ritter, Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Hickenlooper chief of staff Cole Finegan, was Archbishop Charles Chaput, who added to the occasion with a blessing: “(Tuesday) in the Catholic tradition we celebrated the feast of St. Thomas More, the patron saint of attorneys and lawmakers. More was the ideal ‘man for all seasons,’ a scholar, a gifted writer, a faithful husband and a loving father.
“He was also a terrific lawyer — not just because he had brains and skill, but also honesty, integrity, conscience and a respect for the moral dignity of the law. These are the qualities that make the law a vocation, a calling, and not just a profession.”
But let us not forget, in the end, More was beheaded.
Eavesdropping
on a woman Friday: “It was so hot today that I couldn’t face Spanx.”
Taxi time
Tenants of the Taxi development, north of Coors Field on the South Platte River, should be shouting hail to Mickey Zeppelin of Zeppelin Development for his love affair with taxis.
Zeppelin, who built the retail and residential community along with his son, Kyle, has partnered with Metro Taxi of Denver to make cabs regular visitors to the Taxi tenants.
“We already have a New York City taxicab, vintage 1950, on our property, and I thought it needed some companionship,” Zeppelin said in a statement.
Through the Taxi and Metro Taxi partnership, Taxi residents will be able to commute throughout downtown Denver for $5 per ride, regardless of the number of passengers.
The official flat rate is $8, but Zeppelin Development will make $3 vouchers available to Taxi tenants and their clients. More info: .
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Hear her on the Caplis & Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
