The great Patsy's Feud of 2013 has been reignited: local pizza chain Patsy's Pizzeria is now accusing Patsy's Italian Restaurant on 57th Street of copyright infringement for using the name "Patsy's of New York."
Patsy's Pizzeria is now claiming that the U.S. Trademark Office blocked its application to register the name "Patsy's Pizzeria" because of confusion with the Midtown restaurant's "Patsy's Of New York" trademark according to the Post. A representative for the pizzeria told the Post that they need to register the trademark in order to make it easy for franchisees to enter newer markets. Paul Grandinetti, the attorney for Patsy's Pizzeria is alleging that Patsy's Italian Restaurant is "blocking our guy's application at the trademark office."
Norman Zivin, attorney for the Midtown Patsy's, told the Post that any trademarking issues the pizzeria has are "of their own making."
"They've raised this same issue over and over again, and have been shot down every time," Zivin said.
During the previous installment of the Patsy's v. Patsy's saga, the 80-plus-year-old Patsy's Pizzeria was trying to cut down on all the alleged copycat Patsy's popping up around the city. In 2013, they sued Patsy's Italian Restaurant (which does not serve pizza and was once one of Frank Sinatra's hangouts) over a Twitter handle. It looks like the fight isn't over yet.
