NEW YORK >> “Bygones are bygones,” said Jules Trump, looking back on a legal skirmish that involved nothing more than what’s in a name: his name, or, specifically, the Trump Organization (Donald Trump) and the Trump Group (Jules Trump and his brother, Eddie).

Like Donald Trump before he became a Republican presidential candidate or a reality-television personality, Jules and Eddie Trump are real estate developers, and rich.

In 2013, ABC News reported that a research firm, Wealth-X, ranked Eddie as No. 35 on a list of the 50 “most influential ultrahigh net worth individuals.” He was the only Trump on a list that started and ended with Microsoft’s co-founders: Bill Gates was No. 1, and Paul G. Allen, who owns the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers, was No. 50. Donald Trump, who hopes to win the Iowa caucuses on Monday, was nowhere on the list, which also included the hedge fund manager William A. Ackman at No. 3, and the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett at No. 5.

Since the 1980s, Jules and Eddie Trump, who are not related to Donald, have built several luxury developments in Florida, including the Mansions at Acqualina, north of Miami, and on Williams Island. The Trumps’ apartment buildings have been home to Whitney Houston and Jimmy Johnson, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.

Back when Donald Trump was calling news conferences to say he had refurbished the Central Park skating rink ahead of schedule and $750,000 under budget, the other Trumps had an office a short walk from the Trump Tower on the east side of Fifth Avenue at 56th Street. In the 1980s, their names, or the name “Trump Group,” appeared in The New York Times fewer than 15 times. Donald Trump’s name, or references to his Trump Organization, appeared more than 2,000 times.

In the 1990s, when he was taking up with Marla Maples, divorcing Ivana Trump and marrying and divorcing Maples, the Trump name appeared about the same number of times. The other Trumps’ name count dropped to two.

One of the articles was about Trump v. Trump, a case that had begun in the 1980s, when Donald Trump sent his lawyer, Roy M. Cohn, to state Supreme Court in Manhattan to stop Jules and Eddie from using the name they were born with.

He claimed that their use of the Trump name was “designed to reap the benefits” of his. He also said it constituted unfair competition.

The brothers, in fact, had the name first, although they did not make that argument in the case. Jules Trump is 72. Eddie Trump is 69, the same age as Donald. But Eddie, born in April 1946, is two months older.

The court papers, preserved in microfiche, reside in a cabinet deep in the basement of the New York County Courthouse on Centre Street in Manhattan. To view the small negative-like sheets is to read about same-name cases from even earlier that were cited by the lawyers. One such case was Ed Sullivan v. Ed Sullivan Radio & TV, in which the host of a really big show appealed a lower-court ruling in favor of Edward J. Sullivan, an owner of a Buffalo repair shop.

If they were arguing the case now, the lawyers could mention more recent tussles over names. In 2010, a former Los Angeles drug kingpin known as Freeway Ricky Ross sued the Miami rapper who performed as Rick Ross. Last year, an appellate judge in California ruled in favor of the rap star, who was born William Leonard Roberts and was a correction officer before he became a performer. The judge, Roger Boren, said that Roberts’ use of a stage name was protected by the First Amendment.

In the Trump case, Donald said in court papers that he had received inquiries from financial institutions about deals that the other Trumps were considering. He said that the calls pointed to confusion over which Trumps were which.

After an inquiry from a magazine publisher — David Q. Mahler, the vice president of a company that owned trade magazines — Donald Trump went to court.

Donald Trump eventually lost the case in state Supreme Court, but he had a two-pronged legal strategy. He had petitioned the federal Patent and Trademark Office to revoke the registration of the Trump Group’s trademark, which it did. The brothers could continue to use the name Trump Group, which they have, but they lost the legal benefits of having a trademark in 1988.

So, as Donald Trump said in a telephone interview on Friday, “I got the name.”

“They’re also really nice guys,” he said of the other Trumps. “I’m friends with them. They’re quality guys. They do quality developments. I see them around, sometimes at the U.S. Open tennis. Really nice guys.”

Did he know that when he sued them? Did he know them then? “No,” he said. “I never sue people that I know if I like them. I didn’t know them, and then I got to know them after that.”

For his part, Jules Trump’s response to a reporter’s call about the lawsuits was, “I don’t want to get into that.”

“There’ve never been any issues with him since then,” he said. “But you know, we’ve engaged socially, and it was fine.”

Donald Trump got the name. Would he get Jules Trump’s vote?

“He’s a remarkable person, he’s an incredible person,” he said. He paused, and then added: “Whether I’d vote for him? I’m not getting into my political preferences.”

But reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show that he gave $25,000 to Conservative Solutions PAC, which is supporting Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

© 2016 The New York Times Company