Good morning. We wrote here last month about the trademark lawsuits being filed by the rest-stop chain Buc-ee's as it expands in the U.S., alleging that other companies' mascots infringe on its trademarked beaver character.

Now Buc-ee's is the defendant -- in the court of HBO's John Oliver.

First, Oliver closed the July 28 episode of "Last Week Tonight" with a segment about the suits, taking the side of small businesses and trolling Buc-ee's with a line of "Buc-Off" merchandise featuring its own adorable, bucktoothed mascot. (Proceeds, he promised, go to Hunger Free America.)

In a follow-up on Sunday night, Oliver described another Buc-ee's lawsuit -- this time against Beaver's Mini-Mart in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Beavercreek.

Beaver mascots aren't exactly rare in the area, but businesses that previously didn't have them have temporarily added beavers to their logos in social media to show support for the mini-mart, as the Dayton Daily News and Dayton Local have also reported.

"Come and get us, Buc-ee's," one bookstore wrote on Facebook. "You don't own every beaver."

Buc-ee's didn't immediately respond to my request for comment, but said in a statement last Friday that it sued only after the owner of Beaver's Mini-Mart filed for a trademark in Ohio. "This conflicts with a federally registered trademark held by Buc-ee's," the company said.

The marketing takeaway: Protecting trademarked IP is critical. But legal campaigns against smaller players carry PR risks as well, potentially turning a routine brand defense into a sore spot with local consumers -- and an unflattering national spotlight.

No Need to Share

Domino's Pizza this month will introduce a rectangular pie geared toward individual orders, Heather Haddon reports exclusively for The Wall Street Journal this morning.

The new pizza -- called the Domino and shaped like one, too -- aims to draw diners who might otherwise get burgers or chicken sandwiches.

Thousands of interviews convinced the company that people often want their own food, even when eating with others, incoming CEO Joe Jordan said in an interview.

"We would hear from consumers, 'listen, because we're sharing food, I need to compromise,'" said Jordan, who rose up through the company's innovation arm.

Domino's already sells a small pizza, but the Domino boosts the quantity of toppings and comes with a savory Parmesan crust, Jordan said.

Domino's new format, which will cost around $7.99 for one topping, is just the latest example of a restaurant chain trying to win cost-conscious diners without giving away the store in discounts. But results across the industry remain mixed.

At Dine Brands, the parent company of Applebee's and IHOP, value is built partly on product novelty and social shareability. That shines through especially at co-branded locations where customers can order not only each chain's menu but crossover items like the Buffalo Chicken Omelette -- an IHOP Omelette with Applebee's chicken wing sauce.

Sixty-two percent of the tickets at dual-brand locations include items from both menus, CEO John Peyton told Restaurant Business:

"Outside of the restaurant world, no one knows that IHOP and Applebee's are owned by the same company. ... We created a consumer need that wasn't out there before, and that's where the long-term legs and strength of the brand lie."

Papa Johns has also tried to use menu innovation to lure consumers, but is struggling to be heard among rivals' discounts, a sea of options on delivery platforms and growing competition from convenience stores and gas stations.

A "Toy Story 5" cross-promotion including personal pizzas didn't draw as many new diners "as we would have wanted," CEO Todd Penegor told analysts after a disappointing second quarter; a good reception for new oven-toasted sandwiches couldn't entirely prevent an 8.3% decline in same-store sales in North America.

"Innovation is a little more challenged to bring in new customers in this environment," Penegor said.

Papa Johns now plans to pitch "fan-favorite products" with "short, targeted windows of disruptive value," backed by a push to rebuild local advertising co-ops to give regional franchisees more targeted marketing power.

Last week, it promoted Chris Lyn-Sue to CMO from senior vice president and general manager of international, citing seven straight quarters of growth in international comparable sales. He succeeds Jenna Bromberg, who is leaving the company.

Meanwhile: The fictional Freddy Fazbear's Pizza from the "Five Nights at Freddy's" videogames and movies is getting a real-life location at the American Dream shopping mall in East Rutherford, N.J., complete with animatronic stage shows. [ Variety]

The Magic Number

The number of Shorts views over 90 days that new applicants will need to qualify for the YouTube Partner Program starting next February, double the current requirement of 10 million. Creators can alternatively accumulate 8,000 hours of watch time over a year, up from 4,000 today. Existing program members will be grandfathered in.

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