Plans for new Columbus Deorio’s lead to conflict: Family disputes new owner’s rights
The iconic pizza restaurant, Deorio’s, is set to return this summer, but there has been some conflict about the authenticity of this latest iteration. The Ledger-Enquirer spoke to the family of former owner Joan Thompson and they allege that current owner, Bernie Scherr, has made false claims about the restaurant.
In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer in May, Scherr revealed the beloved Columbus restaurant would be reopening in the old CiCi’s building on Mercury Drive, the menu would feature a few original recipes, and some familiar faces would return to work there.
The original owners’ family disputes the claims.
Sydney Hawkins and Chandler Pavel, Thompson’s granddaughters, claim this is untrue. Hawkins says “there is no way” that Scherr has original recipes because the only people alive who know the ingredients are the family. She decidedly “didn’t give them to him,” and when asked about a possible sale of the proprietary recipes, Hawkins says she would sell them “over [my] cold, dead body.”
Thompson’s brother, former manager and business collaborator, Edward Harris, is also shocked at the revelation that Deorio’s may open under different ownership. He told the Ledger, “I’ve never heard of [Scherr]” and is adamant that “he has no right to use the name ‘Deorio’s.’”
Harris was involved with the day-to-day management of Deorio’s since his sister bought the restaurant from Gus Peluso many years ago and finds it “absurd and ridiculous” that Scherr should be able to use the name and is skeptical that he has the original recipes himself. Harris contends that he is in possession of them and can’t see a situation in which Scherr would have obtained them ethically.
Recipes can’t be protected from plagiarism
Legally, recipes “are rather hard to protect,” says legal resource site, NOLO. You can’t copyright them because they lack “the necessary literary expression.” Invoking patent law would be practically impossible unless you’re seeking to patent a specific method. Trademarks will only protect the name or the logo, not the ingredients themselves.
The “trade secret” method could work but you “would need to use nondisclosure agreements with your contractors, manufacturers, and distributors, as well as anyone else who came into contact with the secret recipe.”
The family is upset about the reopening
The family was surprised to read about the reopening of Deorio’s when they saw it in the Ledger. Pavel claims that the new owners have very little connection to the original Deorio’s (aside from being customers) and that Scherr and his wife are “profiting off what another woman built.” Pavel calls it their “emotional home.” Hawkins remembers doing her homework in a Deorio’s booth after school when she was little.
In terms of their grandmother’s legacy Pavel and Hawkins are distraught over “losing” the family business, saying “the Deorio’s name is all we have left of her.” Their uncle, Thompson’s brother, Harris, is incredulous about the legality of using the name without permission, stating, “my sister paid $30,000 for the name all those years ago. He shouldn’t be able to take it.”
What’s next for the family?
The granddaughters admit they “don’t have the capital” needed to revive the local staple, but claim they would have liked to be involved in the reboot of the restaurant in town. Pavel says they “have the heart” to make it the old Deorio’s, if they could collaborate with Scherr and his wife, but they allege he declined a partnership with them in a phone call that took place earlier this year.
Both Hawkins and Pavel were skeptical about creating a working relationship going forward with Scherr and the new Deorio’s. When asked what they hoped would happen if they couldn’t come to terms, Hawkins and Pavel were adamant: they want people to know it has nothing to do with them and has no relationship to the original Deorio’s.
Harris was more direct in his intentions. He plans to “pursue legal action to prevent him from using the name.” And promises to “use every legal means to prevent him from opening a restaurant named Deorio’s.”
Ledger-Enquirer reached out to Scherr to respond to the family’s claims, but he declined to go on the record with his comments.
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This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
