UEFA OK with 'Champignons League' pizza name
The European governing body UEFA isn't always a fan favorite for understandable reasons, such as when it investigated goalkeeper Manuel Neuer choosing to wear a rainbow-colored captain’s armband during a match because doing so could be considered "political" in nature.
Here's an instance of UEFA electing against picking on a little guy.
As Max Winters wrote for the Daily Mail, UEFA recently threatened legal action against Pizza Wolke, a small pizzeria in Germany, because it has been selling a frozen "Champignons League" pizza that features a name quite similar to UEFA's Champions League club cup competition. According to the Mail and the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), UEFA even sent a cease-and-desist letter to Pizza Wolke about the item topped with mozzarella cheese and mushrooms.
However, cooler heads have since prevailed.
"UEFA obviously takes the protection of its intellectual property seriously but this instance seems to be a case of an overzealous local trademark agent acting too hastily,'' UEFA said in a statement shared by the AP. "The UEFA Champions League can happily live alongside this delicious-sounding pizza.''
Per John Brewin of the Guardian, the owners of Pizza Wolke were defiant in their response to the UEFA letter before Tuesday's update:
"My gang & I have hit a path and we won’t stop until we’re in every stomach and baked in every oven at some point! A man! A pizza! Let’s see how far UEFA goes! BUY THE WORLD’S HOTTEST MUSHROOM PIZZA, everyone!"
Thoughts about placing mushrooms on pizza aside, we smell a potential future sponsorship agreement in the works.
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