Zuppardi Feud

What is it about great pizza and family feuds? Here’s the latest complicated story, Zuppardi edition. Zuppardi’s Apizza was founded in 1947 in West Haven, CT by Anthony Zuppardi. Son Robert later took sole ownership of the restaurant. Eventually, Robert’s sisters, Lori and Cheryl, became co-owners, with Robert, of the business. In 2005, Robert’s son Tony began his own pizzeria, with dad Robert’s assistance, in Wilmington, VT and called it Tony Zuppardi’s Apizza.

Tony Zuppardi also sold frozen pizzas in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. His dad Robert sold those frozen pizzas at his Zuppardi’s in West Haven. Parenthetically, let us take a moment to consider this. We knew Zuppardi’s of West Haven sold frozen pie, but we had no idea that the pies were from Tony’s Vermont operation, not the West Haven Zuppardi’s.

Anyway, back to the feud. In 2007, Tony registered the Tony Zuppardi’s Apizza trademark. In 2008, Lori and Cheryl bought out their brother Robert’s share of the West Haven Zuppardi’s and, in 2009, tried to register their Zuppardi’s trademark, which was rejected because Tony got there first. So West Haven Zuppardi’s filed to cancel Tony’s trademark, Tony surrendered it, and West Haven got their trademarks registered.

Now it gets a little dirtier. In 2010, West Haven Zuppardi’s sued Tony and their brother Robert (and when Robert died in 2012, his estate), and Tony tried to get West Haven’s trademarks invalidated. And it went to court. The court dismissed, in summary judgments, Tony’s attempt to cancel West Haven’s trademarks, and West Haven’s claims of trademark infringement and lost profits and attorney’s fees. The rest of the cases remain open.

We did some further checking and it appears Tony’s Vermont pizzeria closed sometime in 2010 or 2011. He then opened Tony Z’s Apizza in Northford, CT with his father, Robert, and a third person. That pizzeria operates today (but canned clams!). Robert’s obituary goes into great detail about his family, and his pizza business activities with Tony. There is no mention of his sisters.