The United States District Court in the Western District of Oklahoma entered a preliminary injunction prohibiting two former Pizza Inn franchisees from operating utilizing “Pizza Inn” trademarks or offering for sale pizza menu items in their former franchise locations until trial. The court held that Pizza Inn had terminated the franchise agreements earlier this year, but the franchisees continued to operate two locations under the “Pizza Inn” brand and utilizing trademarked items on the menus. The court held that such activity likely demonstrated actionable trademark infringement in violation of the Lanham Act. Additionally, the continued operation offering pizza menu items was held to likely violate the terms of the franchise agreements prohibiting competition in those locations for a period of two years.

Cody Towns and Elizabeth Hampton represent the Franchisor, Pizza Inn, Inc. The case is Pizza Inn, Inc. v. Allen's Dynamic Food, Inc., 2023 WL 3015297 (W.D. Okla. Apr. 19, 2023).