Tasty Burger Wants Chipotle to Stop Using 'Tasty Made' Name, Logo

BOSTON, MA — As Chipotle embarks on a publicity campaign for its forthcoming Tasty Made burger chain, local restaurant chain Tasty Burger is taking issue, and not just with the similar name.

The Boston chain, which has locations in Cambridge and Washington, D.C., in addition to many neighborhoods in the Hub, issued a Cease & Desist letter to Chipotle Inc. last month. It hopes to block the fast-casual behemoth from using what Tasty Burger sees as not only a confusingly similar name, but a familiar-looking logo, too.

In a statement, Tasty Burger CEO David DuBoi calls the Tasty Made logo and mark "unmistakably similar to our own in color, shape and design."

Tasty Burger sent its Cease & Desist letter last month, but to no avail. Chipotle has now rolled out a promotional campaign for its new restaurant, continuing to use that red-and-white logo, as well as the name.

"This has caused a great deal of confusion among our customers, and consumers in general, because Tasty Burger has no association or affiliation with Chipotle," DuBois said.

Because Chipotle has a Boston presence and likely did its due diligence in selecting a logo, DuBois said, he's sure the company knew of Tasty Burger's logo. That "leads us to believe that Chipotle has intentionally chosen to proceed with the 'Tasty Made' name and mark without regard to the obvious infringement," he said.

"Despite the obvious David and Goliath scenario, we cannot simply stand by and watch an enormously powerful company like Chipotle move forward with opening a burger restaurant with a similar name, mark, and logo design," he said. "Given Chipotle’s refusal to cease interfering with our established trademark rights, we have no choice but to aggressively protect our well established mark."

But don't think that means Chipotle is changing course.

In a statement supplied to Patch, a Chipotle company spokesman said:

"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. The United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to register a trademark for Tasty Burger because it is merely descriptive and not enforceable. Beyond that, we believe there is sufficient difference between the names and logo marks so as not to cause consumer confusion, and we believe both brands can co-exist."

Judge for yourself, Patch readers. Are the names/logos different enough that your average burger-lover won't get confused? Let us know in the comments, or by emailing alison.bauter@patch.com.

Tasty Made makes its debut in Ohio this fall, promising burgers, fries, and shakes "made with integrity," much like the Chipotle concept. The company originally considered the name "Better Burger" for the concept, but later abandoned that name after the trademark was challenged, according to Eater.

>> Photo by Eric Kilby from the Fenway Tasty Burger, via Flickr/Creative Commons