Tasty Burger, a US restaurant chain operating in Boston and Washington, D.C., has demanded that Chipotle Mexican Grill (Chipotle) change the name and logo of its new burger franchise, Tasty Made, which is set to open this fall in Lancaster, Ohio. In a cease and desist letter reportedly sent by Tasty Burger to Chipotle, Tasty Burger alleges that the logo and trademark for Chipotle’s new endeavour is “unmistakably similar to [Tasty Burger’s] in colour, shape and design.” The two logos are shown below:
Chipotle announced that it has no plans to comply with Tasty Burger’s demands, instead issuing the following statement: “We fully intend to move forward with the name Tasty Made for our burger restaurant and strongly believe that we are on solid footing in doing so.”
Tasty Burger currently owns a trademark registration for (US Trademark No. 4159275) for restaurant services, which is registered on the Supplemental Register. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the application for the same mark to be registered on the Principal Register, asserting that the name was merely descriptive, and not registrable on the Principal Register pursuant to the Lanham Act, 15 USC §1052(e)(1).
This beef may proceed to court, where it would be determined whether the two marks would be confusingly similar. If a likelihood of confusion is found to exist, it may send the highly anticipated burger-chain back to the drawing board to cook up a new name and mark.
Summary By: Jennifer R. Davidson
E-TIPS® ISSUE
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