HALIFAX—A Nova Scotia entrepreneur is taking a spicy dispute over donair seasoning to court.

According to documents filed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on March 15, Jeff Mahoney alleges that Johnny Dib, a former business associate, is illegally using his trademark to promote and sell donair spice online.

“I can’t stop him from selling spice, but I just want to be able to keep selling my product and not have the confusion,” Mahoney said in an interview on Tuesday.

Reached for comment, Dib described the case as “interesting,” but said his lawyer advised him not to speak with media.

“As of now we’ll just let it play out.”

Dib’s LinkedIn profile says he’s the president of Pizza Girls, a chain of pizza restaurants in the Halifax area.

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In 2015, Mahoney said he created a blend of spices he called “Donair Spice” and commissioned an artist to create a logo, which he trademarked. He and Dib started a Facebook page in 2016 to promote the product.

The problem began when Dib allegedly asked to invest in the Donair Spice business multiple times throughout 2016 and 2017.

“I didn’t want to part with the brand, more or less,” said Mahoney, who’s the sole owner of the Donair Spice logo’s registered trademark.

Instead, according to the court documents, Dib invested $15,000 for a 33 per cent stake in a company that became the sole distributor of Donair Spice to Sobeys stores. The distribution company ceased operations in December 2016 — less than a year after it went into business — after the product was removed from the grocery stores. The documents did not say why it was taken off the shelves.

Things heated up in December 2017, when Dib allegedly kicked Mahoney off the product’s Facebook page. Mahoney said he didn’t think it was “worth pursuing” at the time, since he wasn’t selling anything. The page was dormant for about two years.

But last month, Dib allegedly began using Mahoney’s brand to sell the donair spice blend through the page, which had about 6,000 followers. He also sells the spice through a website. The Facebook page was active on Tuesday afternoon, but by 5 p.m., the page was not available.

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None of the allegations have been proven in court, and Dib has until March 30 to respond to the lawsuit.

“I’m not an idiot, I can’t stop anybody from selling spice,” said Mahoney, explaining that it’s just the logo that’s trademarked, not the blend itself.

“Truth be told, unless I go get a forensic scientist to prove he’s selling the exact same thing, there’s nothing really I can do.”

While Mahoney continues to sell his spices to his family, friends and a small group of clients, he said Dib’s alleged use of his registered trademark is resulting in a loss of profits.

“It’s no different than taking a shoe and putting the Nike check on it. If a guy works at the Nike factory and figures out their process for making shoes and goes out and starts making his own shoes, there’s really nothing Nike can do,” he said.

“But when he slaps a Nike check on the side of it and tells people that it’s the same thing as the shoes they were selling before, that’s where the problem lies.”

According to court documents, Mahoney spent thousands of dollars of his own money to promote the Donair Spice Facebook page, and made several unsuccessful attempts to stop Dib from using his brand to sell the spice.

He’s seeking a total of $220,000 in damages, saying that in addition to the lost profits, the ordeal has resulted in confusion over the brand’s identity.

“I’ve got people asking me, ‘Is this the same thing you were selling?”

He also wants the profits from any products sold bearing his logo, and an injunction preventing Dib from promoting or selling products bearing the name.

Mahoney said he’s representing himself, saying he believes it’s a “black and white” case.

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