Step aside, chicken sandwich conflicts, because there’s a burrito brawl going on.
On Tuesday, Chipotle filed a trademark infringement complaint against Sweetgreen, another fast-casual restaurant, for their latest menu item: a chipotle chicken burrito bowl.
According to the lawsuit, “Sweetgreen is using Chipotle’s famous CHIPOTLE trademark to sell a product that is very similar to and directly competitive to Chipotle’s chicken burrito bowl.”
The burrito chain listed numerous additional “copy-cat” characteristics, in addition to the product name like “chipotle.” According to the lawsuit, the ingredients in Sweetgreen’s menu item are comparable to those in Chipotle’s bowl. (“chicken, a grain base such as rice, black beans and salsa”).
The burrito bowl at the salad joint is made up of blackened chicken, wild rice, cilantro, red onion, shredded cabbage, tomato, lime cilantro black beans, and roasted chipotle salsa. In addition to chicken, Chipotle’s burrito bowls include brown or white rice, black or pinto beans, and a selection of toppings such as guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and queso.
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The lawsuit also says that the salad chain’s new product advertising mimic the fast-casual Mexican spot in the font and “adobo red” color used.
According to a Sweetgreen spokesman, the new menu item’s name will be changed “as part of a tentative agreement to resolve the lawsuit.”
“We have decided to rename our bowl to the Chicken + Chipotle Pepper Bowl in order to focus on the business and continue serving our guests without distraction,” they explained. “Our goal is to provide customers with healthy, elevated, and crave-able menu items that make them feel good.” We are eager to put this litigation behind us so that we can continue to connect more people to real food.”
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Sweetgreen’s burrito bowl, regardless of label, will be 50% off on Thursday, April 6, in honor of National Burrito Day. Customers must order using the restaurant’s app and enter the code “SGBURRITOBOWL” to get the deal.
Chipotle is also offering a National Burrito Day deal. Fans can get a $0 delivery cost by using the code “DELIVER” when shopping online.