The pizza clone wars
US chain calls in lawyers in copycat claim
A TRENDY pizza restaurant is at the centre of a £1.5million copyright lawsuit after being accused of visiting a US rival and opening a ‘copycat’ business in Scotland.
Newly opened @pizza is facing a legal challenge from the similarly named Washington-based chain ‘&pizza’.
It has been accused of mimicking large parts of the company’s identity and product range, including its unique 47ingredient menu options and ovalshaped pizza dough. Legal papers lodged at the District Court of Columbia also allege that representatives from the Edinburgh restaurant ‘repeatedly’ visited its stores, ‘masquerading as customers’, and photographed its interior before setting up their own business in the Scottish capital.
The lawsuit comes just weeks after @pizza opened its doors to criticism from some customers about the similarities. Cofounders Bhasker Dhir and Rupert Lyle did not deny visiting the US chain, but instead describe the excursion as ‘research’.
In a statement the businessmen said: ‘This is a great example of an American business trying to stifle Scottish entrepreneurial spirit... the @pizza brand is the result of looking at best practice worldwide and improving on it further.’
The &pizza chain was founded in Washington DC in 2012, and has since earned plaudits for its community-led ethos, design and customer-customised pizzas.
In the legal papers, lawyers for &pizza state: ‘As a part of copying &pizza, defendants needed a closer look at &pizza. They also needed pictures of &pizza’s interior so that they could pass off @pizza as their own in marketing materials, a key step to convincing potential business partners to work with them. They designed the copycat @pizza restaurants as derivative designs of &pizza’s restaurants, possessing the same look and feel.’
In a statement, Mr Dhir and Mr Lyle add: ‘Given the litigation is based on a series of inaccuracies and misquoted UK law, this may be a result of the fact they have been unable to register their trademark in Europe and want to stifle any potential competition, should they move into the UK.’
Michael Lastoria, chief executive of &pizza, said he had launched the legal action to protect the future of the firm’s ‘tribe’ of employees.
He said: ‘Planned European expansion notwithstanding, our legal action against this imitator in Scotland stems from a desire to protect the things we hold most dear – our brand, our hometown, our creativity, our tribe members and our community of loyal guests.’