JACKSON, MI – In-N-Out does own the look of its restaurants’ interior, according to a ruling in a lawsuit against another burger restaurant with locations in Jackson and Tecumseh.
In-N-Out Burger, a large regional chain headquartered in California, filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in July 2020 against locally-based Doll n’ Burgers for alleged trade dress infringement, stating Doll n’ Burgers restaurants look too much like In-N-Out.
Related: Doll n’ Burgers looks too much like In-N-Out Burger, lawsuit claims
Trade dress is a type of trademark that refers to the image and overall appearance of a product or company. Trade dress infringement occurs when a company looks enough like another to likely cause confusion in the public.
In March, the judge granted In-N-Out’s motion to dismiss Doll n’ Burgers’ argument to cancel In-N-Out’s registered trade dress, records show, stating the registered trade dress is recognizable by the public.
The ruling states that in 2015, In-N-Out was awarded a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Registration for trade dress depicting the interior of its restaurants. Doll n’ Burgers argued, however, that In-N-Out misled in its application for its trade dress that none of its spending is put toward putting that trade dress in its promotions, which is required by law. The judge ruled against Doll ‘n Burgers’ argument.
In-N-Out’s registered trade dress depicts the layout of the interior of the restaurants, including its red-and-white color scheme, the aesthetics of the restaurant’s counter, along with its red-and-white seating area, records show.
While this was a win for In-N-Out, there are still other parts of the lawsuit to be decided. That includes whether or not In-N-Out has a valid common law trade dress, and whether or not Doll n’ Burgers infringed on that. Records show this will be up to a jury to decide and a date has not yet been set, records show.
In-N-Out has cited nine elements to its common law trade dress, including its color scheme, interior and exterior décor, menu layouts, employee uniforms and the use of the letter “N” in its name.
Both In-N-Out and Doll n’ Burgers declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In-N-Out Burger was founded in the 1940′s and now has more than 350 restaurants, most of them in the western U.S. Doll n’ Burgers, founded by Justin Dalenberg, owns two locations in Michigan, the original in Tecumseh and one in Jackson.
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