---
title: "In-N-Out Sues Smashburger Over Burger Names"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/c219ff95-d489-481e-b618-46dbf024ff68
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-in-n-out-sues-smashburger-over-new-burger-names-2703996
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
topics: ["Regulation & legal"]
published: 2017-09-01T15:10:02.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:09:48.052Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/900b61ea9af96d9e9185c2fdc32c2b8e1686.jpg
---

# In-N-Out Sues Smashburger Over Burger Names

**TL;DR:** In-N-Out is suing Smashburger over burger names, alleging that Smashburger's new offerings are too similar to In-N-Out's trademarked menu items. In-N-Out has trademarked 'Triple Triple' and 'Double Double' for its menu, while Smashburger has introduced offerings called 'Triple Double' and 'Smashburger Triple Double'.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-09-01. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-in-n-out-sues-smashburger-over-new-burger-names-2703996).*

## Story

In-N-Out is headed to court with a lawsuit against Smashburger. According to a recent article in Nation's Restaurant News, the brand says Smashburger's new burger names are too similar to its own trademarked offerings.

In-N-Out has trademarked "Triple Triple" and "Double Double" for its menu, while Smashburger has introduced offerings called "Triple Double" and "Smashburger Triple Double." In-N-Out says that these names violate their trademarks.

This is not the first time the burger chain has sued another restaurant over names. In-N-Out has previous taken companies to court over the phrase "animal style" or for using its own company name.

"When you have descriptive wording, your rights are somewhat weak. I think there's enough differentiation," said trademark attorney, Jennifer Ko Craft.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- menu items (topic)
- Smashburger (company)
- In-N-Out (company)
- trademark lawsuit (topic)
- burger names (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-in-n-out-sues-smashburger-over-new-burger-names-2703996). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/c219ff95-d489-481e-b618-46dbf024ff68).