Brooklyn's Joe's Pizza Loses Logo In Fight With Famous Competitor

PARK SLOPE, NY — A judge ruled that a Fifth Avenue pizzeria can keep its name and website but ordered it to ditch its logo after a famous Greenwich Village slice joint claimed it was being copied, the New York Daily News first reported.

Famous Joe's Pizza, which has been opened since 1975 at 7 Carmine St., sued Park Slope's Joe's Pizza of the Village, at 483 Fifth Ave., last year after the eatery changed its sign to resemble the famous Manhattan outpost, the News reported.

Famous Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village (Image: Google Maps)

A judge ruled Tuesday that the Fifth Avenue spot, opened by a former Famous Joe's employee, must stop using the logo but would still be able to stay in business as Joe's Pizza of the Village.

"With both their pizzeria signage and their Grubhub account, defendants have used designs that are virtually identical to plaintiff’s marks," Judge Brian Cogan wrote in his decision filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

However, Cogan wrote that the name can still stay because they've used it for so long and it uses "generic" words.

"Plaintiff does not have exclusive use over 'Famous' or 'of the Village,'" Cogan added. "These are generic enough terms so that plaintiff may not bar defendants from continuing to use the name that they have employed for over a decade."

The dustup started more than 10 years ago when pizza maker Victor Zaro was fired from Famous Joe's, according to court documents.

Zaro worked there for nearly 15 years, but took over the lease of the Fifth Avenue storefront in 2004 and renamed it Joe's Pizza of the Village. Famous Joe's owner Pino Pozzuoli Sr. wasn't too thrilled when he found out and fired Zaro days after he opened his own eatery, according to documents.

The tussle lay dormant for years until Zaro changed the logo on the Park Slope storefront in October 2017 to one that nearly mirrored the Carmine Street one. Pozzuoli filed a suit asking a judge to force Zaro to change the name, logo, website and take down photos on the walls of Zaro with celebrities taken at the Village location.

Cogan ruled that the signage was too similar so Zaro has to change it. He also has to add a disclaimer to the photos on the wall to explain that they weren't taken there.

Image: Google Maps