Crumbl Cookie Files Lawsuit

Crumbl Cookie has filed a lawsuit against two growing cookie businesses Dirty Dough and Crave.

Crumbl makes several claims declaring that Dirty Dough and Crave both have decor, presentation and packaging that is confusingly similar to the Crumbl Cookie brand. Additionally, Crumbl accuses Dirty Dough of stealing dozens of recipes, training videos, and trade secrets. A spokesperson for Crumbl states that “One of the defendant’s brothers, who we also believe was involved in the defendant’s business, was a former corporate employee of Crumbl…”. (Hart J. 2022, July 21 Utah Cookie War). 

Dirty Dough and Crave have not taken these claims lightly as they both have been offended at the thought that Crumbl would sue over a business idea made public which is not protectable under intellectual property law. Both founders have told reporters that they have different colored logos and names that looks nothing like Crumbl’s trade dress. Additionally, the founder of Crave has stated that there are very distinct differences between Crave’s logos and name stating that, “Our branding is black and gold. [Crumbl’s is] pink and black. Their logo is … a chef wearing a hat. Ours is two overlapping cookies,”(English) Andrea Day and Chris Dilella. 2022, October 15 Utah’s Cookie War Heats Up In Court – and On Social Media. In addition, Dirty Dough’s founder states, “[i]t’s a bad look from where the first ones to stand up and say, ‘No, this isn’t okay. You can’t just sue people without merit.” says the founder of Dirty Dough.” (Bennett Maxwell)Crumbl states that “all brands have the right and responsibility to protect their intellectual property.” (Id.)

This fight is definitely heating up in between the cookie bakeries as the companies are not backing down from Crumbl. Trade dress law states that it is the characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging that signify the source of the product to consumers. You judge for yourself whether the two accused have copied Crumbl’s trade dress.