Guido’s Pizza Faces Legal Hurdles

In the piping-hot pizza market here in Northwest Arkansas, a legal battle is heating up among the three owners of four restaurants, all of which are named Guido’s Pizza.

Mark Zulpo and Dennis Bariola started the original restaurant in Tontitown in 1993, trademarked the name and opened a store in Springdale. Bariola and his son, Mark Bariola, then opened a Fayetteville location and later started another Guido’s Pizza in Rogers.

Here’s the rub: According to a suit Zulpo filed in U.S. District Court, Bariola secured licensing of the name for the Fayetteville Guido’s Pizza, but not for the Rogers store, which the suit claims is being operated using the Guido’s name, recipes and other intellectual property without permission.

The complaint also alleges Bariola sold the Fayetteville store to Michael McNamara, who is also named in the suit. Upon being informed he would have to secure a license from Zulpo to use the name Guido’s Pizza, McNamara said he already had permission from another company Bariola owns. According to the complaint, Bariola obtained a license from the similarly named Guido’s Premium Pizza Inc. of Michigan, which owns a federal trademark registration for the Guido’s name.

But according to the suit, the Michigan company obtained the trademark in November 2000, “seven years after Guido’s Pizza had established its common law trademark rights to the Guido’s Pizza Mark in the Northwest Arkansas MSA.”