D.C. Circuit dismisses appeal of &pizza's IP suit in a pizza brand war

D.C. Circuit dismisses appeal of &pizza's IP suit in a pizza brand war

The District Court affirmed that the copyright act does not prevent downloading a picture of an architectural work ordinarily visible from a public place and familiarity of a US tourist or student will not affect the purchase of the defendant's pizza in the US.

The United States District Court for the District Court of Columbia (District Court) dismissed the trademark and copyright infringement claims filed by &pizza against @pizza stating that &pizza failed to form a sufficient case of Copyright and Lanham Act over @pizza's conduct.

&pizza is a restaurant based in the United States along the East Coast. &pizza is a "create your own pizza" restaurant. On the other hand, @pizza is a United Kingdom Corporation that operates in Edinburg, Scotland. Having almost similar marks, &pizza filed a lawsuit against the @pizza at the District Court, bringing copyright and trademark infringement claims.

The plaintiff contended that the defendant even visited the location of the restaurant in the US and also took photographs for observing the conduct. They even contended that the defendant downloaded the copyrighted content from the plaintiff's website. The District Court while observing the case tests the extra-territorial application of the Copyright and Lanham Act.

The question with the court was not only with regards to the right of &pizza being infringed by @pizza under the Copyright Act but also with regards to the alleged infringement in the US. Structuring a connection with the Copyright Act, the plaintiff argued that the downloading of the content was done from the website whose servers are located in the US. And secondly, the defendant has taken the picture of the outlet physically in the US. The plaintiff contended that these two activities sufficiently constitute and established the connection with the Copyright Act of the US despite the physical presence of the defendant from outside the US.

The District Court affirmed that the copyright act does not prevent downloading a picture of an architectural work 'if the building in which the work is embodied is located or ordinarily visible from a public place. (Citing 17 U.S.C. § 120(a)). The court was not satisfied with the contention being put by the plaintiff regarding creating a sufficient nexus with the Lanham Act. The court held that the defendant's business is based in a foreign country and it has no relation with that in the US and they neither even purchase nor sell in the US. With regards to some tourists and students going to the UK might be familiar with the outlet. But their awareness in any sense will not affect the purchase of the defendant's pizza in the US.

The Court tests the extra-territorial applicability of the Copyright and Lanham Act. But the Court does not explicitly define the extra-territorial infringement since defining this might be challenging in the more globalized world.