The owner of a bowling alley in St. Eustache has lost a court battle to keep the English version of the alley's name.

Bowl-Mat will now have to be called Amusements Bowl-Mat to clear the province's language laws.

Francophone owner Jean-Guy Mathers had twice taken his challenge to court -- first to a lower court and then through an appeal. Both times the judge ruled in the province's favour. He said he's spent about $15,000 on the legal challenge, and has decided to give in and change the sign.

"I feel it's so ridiculous," he told CTV Montreal.

James Brunton, the appeals court judge, is a well-respected English-speaking judge who usually renders his decisions in French.

This time, he wrote the decision in English -- a move that upset the president of the St. Jean Baptiste Society.

"To have a unilingual judgment handed out 32 years after Bill 101 is absurd," said Mario Beaulieu. 

Meanwhile, Mathers said he's looking at the positive side of his two-year ordeal.

"I'm getting a lot of publicity and it doesn't cost me anything!"