A New Hyde Park pizzeria is suing three of its competitors, saying that other Italian restauants are cashing on on the phrase he trademarked 20 years ago.
owner Joseph DiVittorio filed the federal suit over the wording “bar pie,” a phrase he registered in 1992 to describe his band of thin-style crust pizza, against several of his competitors he is accusing of copying him and “could confuse customers of his eatery and food trucks,” according to an August 2 article in the New York Daily News.
The pizzas were featured in an eisode of the HBO series “Entourage” where the main characters place an order for the pies to be shipped from New York to Los Angeles after the group has difficulty finding pizza to their liking on the west coast.
The lawsuit states that “over the years many Italian restaurants and pizzerias have attempted to trade off of the fame and notoriety associated with (Eddie’s) Bar Pie” and seeks that his competitors remove all references that use te phrasing on any promotional materials and menus.
According to the Daily News:
Emilio Branchinelli, the owner of Passione, Fanatico and Emilio’s restaurants in Long Island, said he’ll remove the phrase from his menus. [...]
Renowned food writer Ed Levine, who wrote “Pizza: A Slice of Heaven: The Ultimate Pizza Guide and Companion," said the war over “bar pie” sounds, well, cheesy.
“Eddie’s is a legendary place, but there’s lots of ‘bar pizza’ in Chicago and New Jersey,” Levine said. “I’d describe 'Bar Pizza' as a genre. Eddie’s is a bar and they make pizza.”
