After sharing slices of their story on social media over the past few days, two Door County pizza restaurants are boxing up their disagreement and taking it to court.
Wild Tomato Pizza has filed a trademark infringement suit in Green Bay’s U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin against Wild Man Pizza. The two restaurants are both based in Door County, with Wild Tomato’s locations in Sister Bay and Fish Creek and Wild Man’s in Sturgeon Bay.
Representatives for Wild Tomato say the Wild Man name and logo are similar to theirs and claim the resemblance has caused confusion among consumers. Cease-and-desist letters were sent to Wild Man in March, according to WBAY, and have allegedly been ignored. The two businesses have exchanged social media posts in recent weeks.
The family behind Wild Man Pizza, which also owns Red Oak Winery, says the lawsuit, along with changing tourism in Door County, has caused them to put their building in Carlsville up for sale.
@paigehk_ We’re being sued :/ Since 2004, my family and I have worked together to run our family business Red Oak Winery in Door County. Last year, we opened Wild Man Pizza (name credit to my 94 year old grandmother) so we cater to more people and have more options! We are currently being sued by Wild Tomato due to the reason of the word “Wild” and they are also claiming it’s causing confusion to the door county customers. As a result of this, and economical factors, we have put our building up for sales. As of right now, we will continue operating until further notice! Thank you for the support and see you this summer while we can! #doorcounty #redoakwinery #wildmanpizza #trademark #fyp ? original sound - Paige
Wild Tomato responded, saying the video tells only one side of the story and that it decided to take the case to court after “many attempts at mediation and numerous in-person contacts failed.”
@wildtomatopizza ? original sound - Wild Tomato Pizza
Wild Tomato is asking that Wild Man stop using its current logo and destroy any materials that still feature it. The case will be heard June 15.
