(NBBJ) - Many wineries and other businesses adopt the names of their founders: Samuele Sebastiani became Sebastiani Vineyards; Jacob Gundlach launched Gundlach Bundschu Winery; Jacob Beringer gave his name to Beringer Vineyards. Mary Fazio lent her first name to Mary’s Pizza Shack in 1959; the company now has some 20 restaurants throughout the Bay Area.

While naming a business after its founders’ first or last name makes sense in its early years, that can spawn complications later, such as the Duckhorn Wine Company’s trademark infringement lawsuit settled in August 2014 against Trinchero Family Estates’ Sutter Home Winery, Duck Commander and Wal-Mart Stores.

Dan and Margaret Duckhorn started St. Helena-based Duckhorn Vineyards in 1976, with a focus on merlot and top-quality estate-vineyard wines that sell for $50 or more a bottle.

In that case, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Duckhorn sued to stop Duck Commander from marketing wines in Wal-Mart for prices near $10. Duck Commander, the name of a duck call and decoy used in hunting and the company that sells them, was founded in 1972. Duck Commander company, owned by the Robertson family of Louisiana, sells hunting gear, food, knives, books and clothing with estimated revenue of some $40 million. Duck Dynasty, an A&E Television Networks reality show about the Robertson clan, was developed by Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation. The show launched in 2012 and produced hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Scott Gerien, partner in the Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty law firm in Santa Rosa, represented Duck Commander, Sutter Home Winery and Wal-Mart in the case. The settlement was confidential, but Duck Commander continued selling wine already produced under that label. “The wines continue to be in the marketplace after the settlement,” Gerien said.