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Jersey Boardwalk Pizza, a two-store chain in southern Florida run by a pair of brothers-in-law originally from New Jersey, is being sued for copyright infringement by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority for similarities between the chain's logo and the Garden State Parkway's iconic yellow and green insignia.
(Photo by Ken Gardner)
WOODBRIDGE — State officials Tuesday defended a decision to sue a small Florida pizza chain for mimicking the Garden State Parkway's iconic yellow and green insignia in its logo.
John O’Hern, chief operating officer of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said failing to take action would leave the state vulnerable to charges of selective enforcement from anyone seeking to exploit the state’s intellectual property.
"Everybody says why not just let the mom and pop pizza shop or sandwich shop do it? Well, what happens when it’s the go-go bar, when it’s Jersey Shore Strippers?" he said. "We, as a public entity, cannot get into selective enforcement. … We don’t want to get involved in that."
O’Hern spoke after a Turnpike Authority meeting Tuesday morning, the first since the federal suit was filed July 21 in U.S. District Court in Newark. Turnpike officials did not address the issue during the meeting.
REJECTING THE LETTERS
In April, lawyers for the turnpike authority, which runs the parkway, sent a letter to the owners of Jersey Boardwalk Pizza, a chain based in Florida, demanding that they stop using signs and other material with the green-and-yellow color scheme because the agency believed it was an infringement on its copyright. The suit was filed after the owners — former New Jersey residents who have two store locations in Florida — would not agree to the demand.
"After nine years, you’re policing me? Come on!" said Paul DiMatteo, who was born and raised in Brick, but moved to Florida nine years ago. He and brother-in-law Skip Parratt, a Belmar native, own Jersey Boardwalk pizzerias in Florida City and Tavernier, Fla.
DiMatteo rejected the selective enforcement argument, saying that a simple Google search reveals numerous images of T-shirts and other items that bear a striking resemblance to the parkway sign.
"How many people used that logo in a million different ways?" DiMatteo said in a phone interview Tuesday.
MAKING HEADLINES
But O’Hern said there are cases in which merchants, artists and others are granted permission to use the logo or some semblance of it, as well as illegal uses that the agency has been able to quash.
The lawsuit has made headlines in New Jersey and Florida — and the public’s response has been as divided as the positions of the plaintiffs and the defendants. In scores of online comments, some have expressed support for the turnpike authority for protecting a very real asset and the public interest, while others have ridiculed the agency for what they consider a waste of time and money to punish former Garden State residents who they see as trying to spread its good name and culture.
Jersey Boardwalk Pizza’s signs and its website advertise franchise opportunities. And O’Hern said the chain’s clear expansion plans belie any notion that this was a case of a bureaucracy picking on a humble family business.
"The idea that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is going after a mom-and-pop pizza shop in the Florida Keys is incorrect," he said. "This is a business (that) has indicated its intent to expand its footprint."
RELATED COVERAGE
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