Delhi HC bars 15 pizzerias from using Domino’s trademark

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to Domino’s Pizza by restraining 15 pizzerias from using trademarks that were found to be deceptively similar to those of the popular pizza chain.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee was hearing a suit filed by Domino’s Pizza, a Delaware-based corporation, seeking an ad interim injunction against the use of names such as “Domnic's Pizza,” “Dominic Pizza,” “Dominic's Pizza,” “Domnik Pizza,” and “Daminic Pizza.”

In its order dated May 28, the court stated: “It is prima facie evident that the marks of the defendants (15 entities) are deceptively similar and phonetically identical to the plaintiff no. 1 (Domino's intellectual property (IP) holder corporation), erstwhile trade name Dominick's Pizza.”

Noting that the dispute involves food products, the court observed that the threshold for establishing deceptive similarity is lower compared to other categories. “In essence, any confusion between such products, if allowed to continue, can lead to disastrous consequences on human health. Therefore, this court has to adopt a more cautious and stringent approach for judging the likelihood of confusion and to exercise greater care,” the order read.

Ruling in favour of the corporation at this stage, the court restrained the 15 outlets and their agents from using “nearly identical or deceptively similar marks” until the next date of hearing, set for 17 September.

The court further directed online food aggregators Zomato and Swiggy to de-list, take down, and suspend the infringing listings of the 15 entities from their mobile applications, websites, or any other platforms.

According to the plea, Domino’s was founded in 1960 in Michigan, USA, by Tom Monaghan and his brother James, after they purchased a pizza store named Dominick’s Pizza from Dominick DiVarti in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1965, following the acquisition of two additional restaurants, the name was changed to Domino’s Pizza.

The plea also stated that the corporation has been continuously and uninterruptedly using the trademarks Domino’s and Domino’s Pizza, and currently operates over 21,000 stores across all continents.