Tanisha Rana
Published on: September 1, 2022 at 22:00 IST
The worldwide restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza accused the Ghaziabad-based eatery of using a similar logo, mark, and trade name in an unfair manner. As a result, the Delhi High Court banned the pizzeria from using the name “Dominick Pizza” to market its goods.
The original shop that the owner of Domino’s bought in 1960 went by the name of Dominick Pizza.
Additionally, until November 24, Justice Pratibha M. Singh forbade “Dominick Pizza,” which has locations in Ghaziabad and Jalandhar, Punjab, from advertising or selling any products under the trademarks “Cheese Burst” and “Pasta Italiano” or any other marks confusingly similar to Domino’s registered trademarks.
Further, the court ruled that “Dominick Pizza” domain names must be suspended.
“A perusal of the record shows that the Defendants have used the name ‘Dominick Pizza’, which is nothing but the identical historical name of the Plaintiff’s store.”
The use of an identical name in a comparable pizza design would be misleading and dishonest, the court added, because “Dominick” is inextricably and historically linked to Domino’s.
The court also stated that the defendants’ imitation of several Dominos flavour variations strengthens their dishonesty in using a brand that sounds similar. According to a Google customer review, there is utter confusion being generated, it was added.
“There is no question in the Court’s opinion that the name and company of the Defendant No. 1 are being mistaken for those of the Plaintiffs’ outlets based on the way the Defendant No. 1 is listed on numerous social media platforms and online purchasing systems.”
The court granted the ex-parte ad interim injunction in favour of Domino’s and noted that “Consumer evaluations on Google Reviews further re-affirm this fact that, in addition to the misunderstanding that is occurring, there is serious tarnishment and dilution of the Plaintiffs’ mark and company.”
In the lawsuit, Dominos claimed that Dominick Pizza, through its owner Sandeep Kumar Sharma, is using the trade name “Dominick Pizza” and a logo, mark, and trade name that are misleadingly similar to other registered trademarks of Dominos, including “Cheese Burst” and “Pasta Italiano.”
According to numerous other Google reviews, people have placed online Zomato orders with Dominick Pizza while mistakenly believing they are placing an order with Domino’s, said attorney Pravin Anand of “Anand and Anand,” who is defending Domino’s.
The court served Dominick Pizza with a summons and ordered it to provide a written statement within 30 days.