{"id":794,"date":"2023-04-21T08:30:38","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T12:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/?p=794"},"modified":"2023-04-21T08:36:07","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T12:36:07","slug":"chipotles-trademark-challenge-leads-to-sweetgreen-renaming-new-menu-item","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademark-infringement\/chipotles-trademark-challenge-leads-to-sweetgreen-renaming-new-menu-item\/","title":{"rendered":"Chipotle\u2019s Trademark Challenge Leads to Sweetgreen Renaming New Menu Item"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, Sweetgreen launched a new menu item it dubbed the \u201cChipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl,\u201d and its fast-casual competitor Chipotle Mexican Grill objected to the name. In its <a href=\"https:\/\/fingfx.thomsonreuters.com\/gfx\/legaldocs\/gdpzqnyqzvw\/CHIPOTLE%20SWEETGREEN%20LAWSUIT%20complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complaint<\/a>, Chipotle alleged that the name and the way in which Sweetgreen advertised the \u201cChipotle Chicken Bowl\u201d food product, which featured similar ingredients to Chipotle\u2019s burrito bowls, violated its trademark rights held by its federal registrations covering the CHIPOTLE word mark and stylized variations of CHIPOTLE:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-796 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chipotle-Tight.png?_t=1681818016\" alt=\"Registered Chipotle Fonts\" width=\"1015\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chipotle-Tight.png 1015w, https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chipotle-Tight-300x121.png 300w, https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chipotle-Tight-768x309.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1015px) 100vw, 1015px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The heart of Chipotle\u2019s claim against Sweetgreen is that Sweetgreen used the word \u201cChipotle\u201d as a trademark, and not merely to describe an ingredient or characteristic of its new burrito bowl menu item. Chipotle\u2019s complaint claims the following trademark rights in using the word CHIPOTLE in connection with the provision of fast-casual restaurant goods and services:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>all capital lettering;<\/li>\n<li>font stylizations; and<\/li>\n<li>Adobo Red color.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Chipotle maintains that these distinctive features of its trademarks serve as source identifiers to Sweetgreen\u2019s customers.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint included a few screenshots of Sweetgreen marketing materials promoting the new \u201cChipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl\u201d product purportedly in violation of Chipotle\u2019s trademark rights, and two are displayed below:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-797 size-full alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chicken-Burrito-Bowl.jpg\" alt=\"Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl\" width=\"271\" height=\"309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chicken-Burrito-Bowl.jpg 271w, https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chicken-Burrito-Bowl-263x300.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">(Complaint at paragraph 24)<\/p>\n<p>In this advertisement, Chipotle complains that the word \u201cCHIPOTLE\u201d is double the size of the \u201cSWEETGREEN\u201d source identifying trademark. Chipotle also takes issue with the red background selected by Sweetgreen, claiming it is nearly identical to Chipotle\u2019s trademarked red color Adobo Red as shown in Reg. No. 3,622,272 above.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-798 size-full alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chicken-Burrito-Bowl-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"527\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chicken-Burrito-Bowl-2.jpg 527w, https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/04\/Chicken-Burrito-Bowl-2-300x195.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">(Complaint at paragraph 23)<\/p>\n<p>Here, Chipotle complains that the font used by Sweetgreen is nearly identical to the stylization protected by Reg. No. 3,698,498 above. Moreover, the words \u201cCHIPOTLE CHICKEN BURRITO BOWL\u201d are prominently displayed in a larger font than the other text and displayed in all capital letters.<\/p>\n<p>According to Chipotle, Sweetgreen\u2019s use of the word \u201cChipotle\u201d in connection with its new burrito bowl product creates a false association between Chipotle and Sweetgreen or would cause confusion or mistake between the competitors. But would a fast-casual restaurant customer really be confused as to the source of the \u201cChipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl\u201d when looking at these promotional materials?<\/p>\n<p>We may never know, because it is unlikely the scope of Chipotle\u2019s trademark portfolio is put to the test on this issue. According to news sources, shortly after Chipotle filed its complaint, Sweetgreen changed the name of this menu item to a more descriptive name, \u201cChicken + Chipotle Pepper Bowl,\u201d as part of a tentative agreement to settle the lawsuit. Sweetgreen\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetgreen.com\/menu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">online menu<\/a> currently displays and features the \u201cChicken + Chipotle Pepper Bowl\u201d product.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Takeaway: A Cease-and-Desist Letter is Only One Tool in the Toolbox<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Prior to initiating this federal action, Chipotle sent Sweetgreen a cease-and-desist letter that challenged the \u201cChipotle Chicken Bowl\u201d name it had given to the new burrito bowl menu item. The letter demanded that Sweetgreen either remove the word \u201cChipotle\u201d from the product name entirely or rename the menu item to include a fair use of the word \u201cchipotle.\u201d As an example, Chipotle suggested Sweetgreen could use the product name \u201cchicken bowl with chipotle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sweetgreen did not respond to Chipotle\u2019s cease and desist letter, which prompted Chipotle to move forward with filing a lawsuit. Sweetgreen almost immediately responded to Chipotle\u2019s complaint when, only two days after its filing, Sweetgreen agreed to change the challenged product name to \u201cChicken + Chipotle Pepper Bowl\u201d as part of settlement discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Transmitting a demand letter like the one described by Chipotle in its complaint is common before a party moves forward with a more costly option to enforce its trademark rights \u2013 litigation. While the dispute between Chipotle and Sweetgreen is not officially settled yet, this case shows that initiating an action in state or federal court more effectively communicates the gravity of a claim than does a cease-and-desist letter and could swiftly bring the accused infringer to the settlement table, as it did here.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions about this post or any related trademark issue, please feel free to contact <a href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/attorneys\/benjamin-d-schwartz\">me<\/a> at <a href=\"mailto:bschwartz@norris-law.com\">bschwartz@norris-law.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, Sweetgreen launched a new menu item it dubbed the \u201cChipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl,\u201d and its fast-casual competitor Chipotle Mexican Grill objected to the name. In its complaint, Chipotle alleged that the name and the way in which Sweetgreen advertised the \u201cChipotle Chicken Bowl\u201d food product, which featured similar ingredients to Chipotle\u2019s burrito [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,118,46],"tags":[],"coauthors":[475],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chipotle\u2019s Trademark Challenge Leads to Sweetgreen Renaming New Menu Item<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Benjamin Schwartz discusses the complaint against Sweetgreen and the tools available to trademark owners facing similar situations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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