A billboard design, filed in court by Anna Marie Cellino, depicting her new firm name, phone number and daughters and colleagues Annmarie and Jeanna Cellino.

A law firm started by the wife and daughters of injury lawyer Ross Cellino has escaped a legal challenge brought by his law partner Stephen Barnes over the use of the Cellino name.

A federal judge in Rochester on Monday refused to bar Anna Marie Cellino and daughters Jeanna and Annmarie from using the name Cellino & Cellino, which they have since abandoned. The judge dismissed Barnes’ suit.

Because he is only a 50% shareholder of Cellino & Barnes, which holds trademarks on its name and phone number that Cellino & Cellino had allegedly infringed, Barnes lacked standing to sue, wrote U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford of the Western District of New York. She said he should have sought approval from Ross Cellino, or at least from the state judge currently weighing the proposed dissolution of Cellino & Barnes, before suing.

“Justice [Deborah] Chimes, as the judge presiding over the dissolution proceeding, could have ordered such action to be taken, effectively overruling Ross Cellino’s objections,” Wolford wrote. “However, it is undisputed that she was never given the opportunity to do so.”

Anna Marie Cellino and daughters Jeanna and Annmarie founded their law firm in April 2019 under the name Cellino & Cellino.

After Barnes sued the law firm in early June for trademark infringement, Anna Marie Cellino said in court papers filed that month that she changed the firm’s name to The Law Offices of Anna Marie Cellino and changed her firm’s phone number from 716-888-2020 to 716-333-2020 to less resemble the 800-888-8888 and 716-854-2020 numbers that have been associated with Cellino & Barnes. The Cellino women had argued that the suit was therefore moot, but Wolford said she didn’t have to reach that argument.

Wolford’s decision Monday left the door open for Barnes to seek permission from Justice Deborah Chimes to file a similar suit again. Christopher Berloth, a lawyer at Buffalo-based Duke, Holzman, Photiadis & Gresens who represents Barnes, said he and his team still take issue with the conduct of the new law firm and were weighing their next steps.

“Given that the decision did not address the merits of the trademark infringement and unfair competition claims, we remain resolute that the defendant law firm continues to market itself in a blatant attempt to palm off Cellino & Barnes P.C.’s goodwill and unprecedented success,” he wrote in an email. “We will continue to pursue the courses of action that are in the best interest of C&B.”

Jeanna Cellino hailed the decision in a statement. “We are obviously pleased with the court’s position,” she said. “We also believe because we voluntarily changed our firm’s name, phone number and advertising, so there is no possibility of confusion with any other law firm, this whole effort is baseless. Our firm is prospering, and we are concentrating on our clients.”