Dirty Dough says voice memos Crumbl presented as evidence will actually help its case

VINEYARD, Utah — One of the two companies being sued by Crumbl says it now has evidence that proves it did not steal recipes. Crumbl claims a former Dirty Dough employee told them that Dirty Dough had confidential information belonging to Crumbl, including cookie recipes.

Dirty Dough founder Bennett Maxwell believes two voice memos Crumbl presented as evidence to his company’s legal team through the discovery phase, will actually help his case.

“There’s supposedly these voice memos that prove that we stole documents when these voice memos don’t even talk about documents, they don’t mention recipes,” Maxwell said.

KSL TV reached out to Crumbl for a response. They sent us a statement saying, “Crumbl has taken legal action against two companies for trade dress and trademark infringement, one of which had stolen Crumbl recipes and trade secrets.”

Crumbl Cookies files trademark lawsuit against two competitors

Maxwell said since news of the lawsuit broke in May, his company has actually seen an increase in sales.

“It’s been the best thing that could have happened to us,” Maxwell said.

So far his company has spent $56,000 in legal fees, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount Maxwell said they have brought in through franchise contracts.

Crumbl is also suing Crave for having similar logos and packaging to their own. The company alleges the two businesses are trying to profit off Crumbl’s reputation and branding.

Crave co-founder Trent English sent KSL TV this statement:

“We unequivocally deny the allegations and any suggestion of wrongdoing. We find no merit to the claims made by Crumbl and see this simply as an improper attempt by a threatened competitor to use a lawsuit to stifle fair and free competition and deny consumers a choice of products. Crave has been in business for 3.5 years, and not one instance of a customer being confused or misled by product packaging or branding has come to our attention.

“From where we stand, our branding is visually distinct from Crumbl’s in almost every way. Our colors are black and gold, their primary color is pink. Our logo is made up of 2 overlapping cookies with a bite taken out of them, Crumbl’s logo is a baker with a bite taken out of his hat. At this point in discovery, the only “proof” Crumbl has been able to provide of the alleged confusion is a handful of screenshots from their social media account…all dated AFTER the initial complaint was filed. It’s hard not to view that as anything but confirmation bias when the alleged confusion is only evident to consumers with existing knowledge of an ongoing lawsuit.

“We believe that fair competition is good for consumers and good for the market. We wish Crumbl and their franchisees nothing but success in their business and look forward to the day when we can all get back to what we do best…baking cookies.”

KSL TV will continue to follow developments in this lawsuit.