The Naugles brand comeback is another step closer to revival.

After winning a trademark battle against Del Taco for the Naugles name, local food blogger Christian Ziebarth is hiring “servers and cooks” for a Mexican fast-food restaurant in Orange County, according to a Craigslist posting.

On Tuesday, Ziebarth confirmed the new restaurant will open this year in an undisclosed Fountain Valley location.

“We are very much on the move. My partners are raring to go,” he said.

“Naugles is back,” according to the job posting, which went up Tuesday. “For almost 22 years Naugles has been held hostage, but not anymore! The public has been wanting the famous flavors to return and now they have! Be a part of the revival of this once famous food chain! We are now accepting resumes for energetic, customer oriented crew members for the roles of servers and cooks.”

In 2010, Ziebarth, of Huntington Beach, began fighting for the Naugles trademark, a brand that merged with Del Taco in 1988.

In a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark agency, Ziebarth argued Del Taco abandoned the brand years ago, legally allowing him to make a claim.

In April, a federal panel said Del Taco was unable to prove they had kept the trademark alive since closing the last restaurant in 1995. That opened the door for Ziebarth to move forward with his plans to revive the brand.

Del Taco, whose acquisition by Chicago restaurateur Larry Levy closed Tuesday, declined to comment on the case.

“We’re still having dialogue on that,” Chief Executive Paul Murphy said.

Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com