Mexican Publisher Must Drop 'Diario Latino' Name By Year's End

By: Mark Fitzgerald San Diego just isn?t big enough for two newspapers named "Latino."

Under a settlement with San Diego's biggest Spanish-language weekly, the well-known Healy Mexican publishing family can no longer use the name Diario Latin for its first daily newspaper published on the U.S. side of the border.

According to a statement from Latina & Associates, publisher of the 90,000 free-distribution El Latino, Healy Media Inc. -- while denying any wrongful conduct -- has agreed to stop using the name Diario Latino for its newspapers before Dec. 31.

In a lawsuit filed about 18 months ago, El Latino accused Diario Latino of unlawful use of its trademark in unfair competition.

In a telephone interview, El Latino's founder and editor, Fanny E. Miller, said the settlement prohibited either side from revealing details of the agreement.

"Pretty much, that was biggest hurdle with them, the name, and that's why we went through this ordeal," Miller said.

Miller and Ray Guerrero of Latina & Associates reached the settlement with Healy Media President Jose Santiago Healy under the mediation of Judge Barbara L. Major, Latina's statement read.

Healy did not immediately respond to an e-mail requesting comment on the settlement.

Healy had been publisher of El Imparcial in Hermosillo, Mexico, for more than 20 years and had founded papers in Mexicali and Tijuana, when in October 2003 he began Diario Latino on the U.S. side of the border. In an issue earlier this month, the five-day tabloid marked its second anniversary by saying it was growing in content and circulation.

Latina's Miller asserted her paper was leading with "65% to 75% of the market" in San Diego. "We're locally focused news, mainly focused on San Diego," she said of the tabloid which runs 56 pages every Friday.