Santa Ana Shopping Center Bows to Suit, Agrees to Drop ‘South Coast’ From Name

South Coast Town Square has given up the battle over its name.

The 50-store shopping center on Bristol Street in Santa Ana--just one block north of South Coast Plaza--will soon be known as just Town Square, thanks to a settlement agreement reached Friday with C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, the developer of South Coast Plaza.

The brouhaha started in April, when South Coast Town Square changed its name from Bristol Town & Country Shopping Center. The idea was to give the center an updated image and identify it with the South Coast Metro area, as the area surrounding South Coast Plaza has come to be known.

In that area, the Segerstrom partnership operates the neighboring South Coast Plaza, South Coast Plaza Town Center, a business development across Bristol Street from the plaza, and South Coast Plaza Village, located across Sunflower Avenue.

But according to John Olson, a partner with Latham & Watkins, which represents Segerstrom, the names “South Coast Plaza” and “South Coast Village” are registered with the secretary of state as service marks.

In late June, Segerstrom & Sons sued South Coast Town Square, claiming infringement of its trade name and service mark.

A lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, asked for an injunction, an undetermined amount of damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.

In a settlement agreed to Friday by Segerstrom, the developer will pay $2,500, which is half the estimated cost of removing the words “South Coast” from Town Square’s name. Promotional literature promoting the “South Coast Town Square” name will have to be thrown away, said John S. Olson, a partner with Latham & Watkins, which represents Segerstrom.

James Carter, who owns Town Square with his wife, Sharon, said he agreed to settle the lawsuit because it would cost $50,000 to $75,000 to continue to fight.

“I believe if we had gone through, we probably would have won,” said Carter, who owns Corporate National Bank in Santa Ana and Beach Savings Bank in Huntington Beach.

“The question becomes, what would we have won,” Carter added. “It’s not worth it.”

Olson said that a final settlement agreement should be filed within a month.