Cookies are big business in Utah, partly because members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abstain from booze, but indulge in sugar, per Utah Business.
Gourmet cookies can retail for $4+ each, generating annual revenues of $800k–$2.5m per store.
This makes the #UtahCookieWars an especially sweet legal drama.
In one corner…
… is Crumbl Cookies, a Utah-based chain with 575+ stores, per The Wall Street Journal.
It’s suing local underdogs Dirty Dough and Crave Cookies, alleging they copied its presentation and packaging.
But the prime beef…
… is between Crumbl and Dirty Dough.
Crumbl alleged that an ex-employee — who happens to be Dirty Dough founder Bennett Maxwell’s brother — made off with 66 recipes, among other brand secrets.
Dirty Dough denies this, and is openly mocking Crumbl via billboards that read “Cookies so good we’re being sued,” and videos that imagine Crumbl’s leadership as a cabal of corrupt, yet dim, villains scheming to crush competition.
How will the cookie crumble?
A trademark attorney told CNBC that some of the alleged stolen ideas aren’t protected by IP law, while a judge could dismiss other trademark claims for being too dissimilar.
The brands’ logos do all feature cookies with missing bites, but, as Techdirt notes, they’re otherwise pretty different.
Yet there may be multiple winners.
Dirty Dough said the hullabaloo has attracted more franchisees, Crave says sales are up 50%, and local news stations are conducting taste tests to determine whose batter is better.
