BRISBANE, Calif., and PROVIDENCE – Monster Entertainment LLC, parent of the Monster Mini-Golf franchise operation, has announced a settlement of its nearly two-year trademark battle with Monster Cable Products Inc.

The New Year’s Eve agreement was heralded as a victory by Monster Entertainment founder Christina Vitagliano, who had described the fight over naming rights as a matter of principle.

Monster Cable’s founder, CEO and “head monster,” Noel Lee, “not only agreed to compensate us for legal fees and allow us to register our name and trademark … he has made a public written apology,” Vitagliano told Providence Business News today. “This is a huge accomplishment on our end and for many small, hard-working entrepreneurs,” she added.

“We are glad to have come to an amicable meeting of the minds,” Noel Lee said a statement addressed to Christina and Patrick Vitagliano, adding: “I personally want to apologize to all for not having been directly involved in this dispute.”

The dispute erupted shortly after she and her husband began trying to register their company’s name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in December 2006.

It reached the courts in May 2008, when Monster Cable filed a lawsuit seeking to bar the Vitaglianos and their franchisees from using the word “monster.” (READ MORE) Its suit – “Monster Cable Products Inc. v. Monster Mini Golf LLC,” filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California – contended that the public might be confused by the similarity of the companies’ names.

The rhetoric swiftly became inflammatory. The California-based cable manufacturer – which once paid $6 million for naming rights to the football stadium used by the San Francisco 49ers (that transaction has since lapsed and the stadium again is known as Candlestick Park) – asserted in a company posting last month on PBN.com and elsewhere that Monster Entertainment “is not a small Mom-and-Pop business. In fact it is seemingly well funded national organization.” (READ MORE)

Monster Entertainment responded by citing the centuries-old history of the word “monster.”

The Providence business is a five-employee operation based in a rented storefront on Westminster Street, Vitagliano told PBN in an e-mail. By the end of this month, it expects to have 18 franchises in operation – in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania – with another four still on the drawing board, she said. “All are Mom & Pop owned; they are like my children.”

She and her husband no longer operate any of the mini-golf locations themselves, Vitagliano added. “We rebuilt and moved our original – from Danielson , Conn., to Webster, Mass. – when we realized that our concept was going to grow, and our manager at the time purchased that location.”

By last month, the Vitaglianos were growing discouraged, and their company had turned to the online sale of mini-golf discount coupons to help raise money for its rapidly-mounting legal fees.

But then, the principals on each side began to communicate directly.

“It’s amazing what happens when people talk without the filter of attorneys speaking for us,” Lee wrote in his post-settlement letter. “In our talks, I found the both of you to be very reasonable people.”

Monster Cable “will drop any opposition to the trademark of Monster Min Golf, as well as the lawsuit that we filed against you,” he continued. “In addition, we will cover your attorney’s fees, so you are not burdened with them as you go forward in pursuing your business.” He attributed that “landmark kind of situation” to a decision by Monster Cable “that public opinion, and that of our valued customers, is more important than the letter of the law that requires us to prevent the dilution of our mark [or] risk losing it.”

“Although we can’t unwind the clock, and we agree to disagree on some of the actions taken by both parties,” Lee said, “there’s a lot of water under the bridge. Like everyone today, we have continued challenging economic times ahead of us. It’s time to focus on our businesses, our employees and their families.”

Monster Entertainment LLC – founded in Danielson, Conn. in 2004 – is a family business offering clients nationwide the chance to operate Monster Mini-Golf family entertainment franchises. Each site features an 18-hole indoor mini-golf course with black lights, glow-in-the-dark clubs and balls, three-dimensional props, animatronics and other special effects and a high-tech sound and lighting system. For more information, visit www.MonsterMiniGolf.com.

Monster Cable Products Inc. – founded in San Francisco in 1979 – is a manufacturer of audio and video cables and other consumer-electronics accessories. To learn more, visit www.MonsterCable.com.