Crumbl and Dirty Dough agree to tentative settlement

SALT LAKE CITY — The cookie wars in Utah may be coming to an end. Crumbl and Dirty Dough agreed to the terms of a settlement but are still finalizing the written agreement according to court documents.

The “Utah cookie wars” began on May 10, 2022, when Crumbl sued competitors Dirty Dough and Crave over “confusingly similar” logos and other marketing materials and specifically accused Dirty Dough of stealing recipes and trade secrets.

Crumbl Cookies files trademark lawsuit against two competitors

Crumbl ultimately dismissed the lawsuit against Crave in July of 2022, reaching a confidential settlement, but the lawsuit against Dirty Dough continued.

Crumbl accused the owner of Dirty Dough, Bennett Maxwell of stealing recipes. Maxwell’s brother, Bradley Maxwell, is a former Crumbl employee.

The lawsuit claimed Bradley Maxwell downloaded 66 Crumbl recipes and other Crumbl information onto a personal cloud drive during the last week of his employment.

The two companies will work over the next 30 days to finalize the written agreement.

“Crumbl and Dirty Dough anticipate that they will file a request for dismissal of claims against Dirty Dough within the thirty-day stay period. In the event Crumbl and Dirty Dough are unable to finalize the settlement for any reason, they will file a request to reset the case deadlines,” court documents stated.

An attorney for Crumbl sent a statement to KSL, saying the two companies have reached an “amicable settlement” to the lawsuit.

Crumbl and Dirty Dough have reached an amicable settlement to a trade secret and trade dress infringement dispute. We understand that our customers are the cornerstone of our success, and it is important to us that you are informed about the resolution of this matter.

In early 2019, Bradley Maxwell was employed by Crumbl. Prior to the termination of his employment, he downloaded Crumbl recipes and operational information from Crumbl’s internal server. Bradley Maxwell was an early owner and independent contractor of Dirty Dough and he shared this Crumbl information with representatives of Dirty Dough.

As part of the case resolution, Dirty Dough returned the Crumbl information and has agreed to change certain cookie boxes in order to eliminate any potential confusion for customers. The remaining terms of the settlement agreement are confidential.

Crumbl and Dirty Dough are pleased that they have been able to work together to resolve this dispute and each remains dedicated to serving its customers with excellence. Crumbl and Dirty Dough wish each other success in their future endeavors.