Two Major Chains in Legal Burger Brawl Over Recipe

Burger chain In-N-Out is suing Smashburger over the Denver-based chain’s “Smashburger Triple Double,” which In-N-Out believes is too similar to its iconic “Double Double” burger, filing a lawsuit on Monday.

“Smashburger’s use of the Triple Double and Smashburger Triple Double marks is likely to confuse and mislead the consuming public, and injure In-N-Out, by causing consumers to believe incorrectly that Smashburger’s products originate from or are authorized by In-N-Out,” the lawsuit states, according to The Orange County Register.

In-N-Out added in the lawsuit that it has used its registered “Double Double” and “Triple Triple” trademarks to market their burgers since as early as 1963, with the California-based chain attracting a massive fanbase for their products in the process.

Smashburger was founded in 2007 and has quickly expanded, launching its Triple Double in July. The sandwich includes three burger patties and two slices of cheese, with chain co-founder Tom Ryan calling the burger “Smashburger’s new iconic menu item” at the time.

In-N-Out’s equal ingredient burgers feature two patties and two slices of cheese, three patties and three slices of cheese and so on.

Photo Credit: Instagram / @innout