Bloomfield business owner caught in legal battle over restaurant name
BLOOMFIELD, Pa. (KDKA) - There's a battle over branding, and a Pittsburgh business owner is caught in the middle of it.
The owner of Thyme Machine has been operating his breakfast stand in Bloomfield during the spring and summer months for three years. But another business more than 1,000 miles away is essentially saying, not so fast.
"I didn't want to change the name. There's a lot of power in that name," said Ryan Chavara, owner of Thyme Machine on Liberty Avenue.
Chavara tells KDKA that a DM he recently received on Instagram sent him into a panic.
"My initial reaction was that this could be it for me."
The message contained a cease and desist from a Lebanese food truck business based in Miami, Florida, with the same name.
"They're saying there's confusion among their customers. I have never received any confusion. Nobody has ever come up here and asked me if we have Lebanese food or if they're in Miami," Chavara said. "My guess is that they want my name cleared of Google searches."
Chavara said the other business gave him 10 days to change the name of his business.
And when he didn't, he claims they upped the ante.
"They were able to get my Instagram shut down, which is the main way that I communicate with my customers."
Chavara tells KDKA that while his business is not trademarked, the Miami business is.
But according to his legal team, Chavara says he can keep operating under the name Thyme Machine because he had already been using it more than a year before the Miami one even applied for a trademark.
If Chavara really could turn back time, he would have applied first.
"I would suggest anyone out there listening who opens a small business to trademark their name. But use it to protect yourself, not to harass another business."
At this point, Chavara says his Thyme Machine is still ticking despite the alleged threat of him possibly being sued for damages.
Chavara tells KDKA he appreciates all of the support he has been receiving from his supporters, but he is asking them to refrain from leaving bad reviews for the other Thyme Machine online.
