ALBERTO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANTS OBTAINS $7.2 MILLION JUDGMENT AGAINST TWO ILLEGAL OPERATORS

Mar 18, 2015

OUTCOME: ALBERTO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANTS OBTAINS $7.2 MILLION JUDGMENT AGAINST TWO ILLEGAL OPERATORS

ALBERTO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANTS OBTAINS $7.2 MILLION JUDGMENT AGAINST TWO ILLEGAL OPERATORS Riverside, CA–March 25, 2015–Chaparros, Inc. of Oceanside, CA, doing business as Alberto’s Mexican Food rec ... eived a judgment from the Honorable Sharon Waters of Riverside Superior Court on March 18, 2015, against Jose Alvarez and Franklin Rodriguez in the amount of $7.2 million. “This victory has been a long time coming, and the additional terms of the judgment are just as important as the monetary damages themselves,” said William M. Nassar, attorney for Alberto’s. The company operates 65 restaurant locations throughout California and Southern Utah, and is represented by the Law Offices of William M. Nassar & Associates of Redlands, California. The court previously issued and has now made permanent an injunction against the defendants Alvarez and Rodriguez pertaining to seven restaurants in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The injunction also included the use of a variety of trademarks that violate those owned by Alberto’s. Alvarez and Rodriguez changed their restaurant signs from “Alberto’s” to Albetos, Ericbertos, and Alvarros, which caused a great deal of confusion to the general public. Alvarez and Rodriguez have been violating Alberto’s trademarks for over three years even after the court ordered them to turn the stores over to Chaparros and not to open any new stores in a manner that would violate the trademarks owned by Chaparros. As a result of the ongoing violations the judge issued warrants for the arrest of both Alvarez and Rodriguez with bail being set in the amount of $500,000 each. Nassar said, “The parties have been embroiled in litigation as a result of Alvarez’s interference with Chaparros operators. Many locations have been lost and or have not paid their license fees resulting in additional law suits. We have settled all other law suits with the exception of one more in San Bernardino County, which we are hopeful will be settled soon.” Julia Silva, the Operations Officer for Chaparros, said, “That while this is an absolute victory and we are extremely pleased with our attorneys and the outcome, however the damages that Alvarez and Rodriguez caused the business have been far reaching. We look forward to working more closely with our current licensors and bringing Alberto’s back to an exciting and profitable level of business that we can be proud of.” ### For additional information please contact William M. Nassar at the Law Offices of William Nassar and Associates (909) 307-2000 or email [email protected].