Keith and Kathy Piszro learned the hard way that the hardest part of starting your own business could very well be finding the right name.

This summer, seven years after opening Father and Sons Pizza in St. John, the couple found themselves in a legal predicament over their chosen name, which is similar to that of Father & Son Pizza on Chicago's north side, which had the name trademarked.

The snafu caused the Piszros thousands of dollars and caused them to reopen on Jan. 1 under a new name -- South Side Pizza.

"It's heartbreaking," Keith Piszro said. "I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's reputation, but I ain't hurting (Father & Son in Chicago), and (Father & Son) ain't hurting me. It's not like we're next door to each other."

Still, when one business places a trademark on its name, any subsequent business that tries to use the name can be found in violation of the Lanham Act and charged with deceptive trade practice and trademark infringement, even if that was never the subsequent business owner's intent. Merely incorporating the business is not enough protection.

Piszro said he and and his wife decided on the name Father and Sons in honor of their three sons and the fact that theirs was going to be a family business. Their logo consisted of a man being chased by three boys.

Piszro said when he originally contacted an attorney to handle the business incorporation with the state, the attorney told him there was a Father & Son Pizza on Chicago's North Side. The attorney didn't seem to think that would be a problem, Piszro recalled.

In June, the Piszros found out differently when an attorney for the Chicago Father & Son Pizza sent them a "cease and desist" letter explaining that by using the confusingly similar term of "Father and Sons," consumers could be misled that the Piszros' business could be affiliated with his client. Also, using a similar logo could be construed as deceptive trade practice and trademark infringement.

The Piszros were stunned but did as they were asked, although it cost them thousands of dollars to do so.

Marvin Benn, an attorney with Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein P.C. in Chicago, who represents Father & Son, said he didn't want to cause undue hardship on the family. However, a trademark is there for a reason.

"Father & Son was established in 1947 and owns a number of stores, and it needs to control its reputation," Benn said. "For example, what would happen if (the Piszros') store burned down or served poison food, like what happened with Brown's Chicken? People could associate my client with that. Plus, if my client doesn't defend his trademark vigorously, he loses his right to defend it at all."

Benn said while there may be many businesses listed as Father & Son, not all of them are listed as pizza businesses, and he does contact those that are as he becomes aware of them. He did commend the Piszros' quick response and was sorry to see that they had received incomplete advice in the first place. Unfortunately, though, that's common.

"Corporate attorneys often think that because you file as a corporation, you're fine, but you're not," he said. "It's important that you contact a trademark attorney, because they have the resources to do a thorough search."

Tony Zirkle, a Crown Point-based attorney who has done trademark work, said by going to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Web site (www.uspto.gov), doing a search of their own and then documenting that they did a search and found nothing competing with their choice, business owners would have a modicum of protection against situations like this.

But Thomas Schab, a Calumet City, Ill.-based attorney who's listed with the Lake County Bar Association and who took on the Piszros' case, said that would be only a first step he would recommend.

"I would do that and then bring it to an attorney who specializes in trademark law," Schab said. "If a business is found committing willful infringement, they'll be hit with damages, attorney fees and possibly injunctive relief, and claiming ignorance of the law is no defense."