I have no idea how we managed to go even this long before this issue which plagues the Indian business community finally came to the forefront. All of us have known about this problem for a long time but have chosen to ignore it. No more:

What’s in a name?

A lot if you’re an Indian grocer, it seems.

Especially if you’re a Patel.

The surname — which is as common among people of Asian-Indian descent as Smith or Johnson is among Anglos - has sparked a brief but bitter dispute involving one of the largest vendors of specialty foods to the Indian community.

A suit filed by Patel Brothers, a Chicago-based food distributor with a chain of 27 stores, accuses an Iselin-based store of violating a trademark when it opened last month using the name “Patel Food Market.” A Patel Brothers grocery — Patel’s Cash & Carry — is across the street.

The case was settled last week, and both sides declined to comment. But the court papers offer a window into the fierce competition among Indian grocers, the importance of the Patel name, and the issue of whether companies can legally protect common names or words. [Link]

You guys got to suck it up and just read this whole article. It is filled with priceless gems like this one:

Swetal Patel filed an affidavit saying he hired two off-duty Woodbridge Township police officers to handle the expected heavy flow of traffic during the Memorial Day weekend. But the officers mistakenly reported to Patel Food Market, where they worked and were paid by the owner, the affidavit said. [Link]

Apparently the legal complexities of this case are also quite riveting:

New York-based Little India magazine estimates that there are more than 140,000 Patels in the United States, a large chunk of them in the economy motel business, which is dominated by Indian-Americans.

The prevalence of the name could have made it hard for Patel Brothers to win such a suit, said Frank Pasquale, associate professor of law at Seton Hall Law School…

“The judge would be looking at the meaning of the Patel name in the community,” he added. “When people see ‘Patel,’ when consumers in Indian groceries see ‘Patel,’ do they think ‘Patel’ just means the last name of the owner — or do they think it means a larger corporation that owns all the businesses?” [Link]

In the end it comes down to doing what you got to do to make some money:

The Patel name can give vendors an edge, he said, because it is well-known.

“People trust it,” he said. “Sometimes people whose last name is not Patel open a store under ‘Patel.’ ” [Link]

I actually also once pretended to be Patel. It was in order to meet women at a Patel conference I attended. My cover was blown when one of them asked me which of the six ghams I was from and I didn’t know the name of even one of them. I should have researched the issue better. In the end I think that lawsuits aren’t the best way to solve these matters. There is a far simpler way. Decide it on the field. Winner take all.