Utah cookie wars highlight need to protect trade secrets

There is a war happening in Utah, but rather than bullets, the combatants are using lawyers and freshly baked cookies. The first shots were fired at the beginning of summer 2022 by Utah’s staple gourmet cookie shop, Crumbl Cookies. In May, Crumbl sued two of its competitors in the cookie industry, Dirty Dough Cookies and Crave Cookies, alleging they are infringing on Crumbl’s trade dress and trademarks. The lawsuits gained quite a bit of attention in local news outlets, including Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune, and on several social media sites, where the disputes received the “#UtahCookieWars” hashtag.

What can make a cookie crumble?

Crumbl pursued the fight throughout the blistering Utah summer, and although the lawsuits began as ordinary trademark actions, the Dirty Dough suit recently became more complex. Near the beginning of August, Crumbl asserted new claims against Dirty Dough for trade secret misappropriation. In support of its trade secret claims, Crumbl alleges a former employee gained access to its confidential business information, possibly including “confidential cookie recipes.” Crumbl also alleges the former employee gave that confidential business information to Dirty Dough for its own use.

The lawsuit against Dirty Dough is still in its early stages, and it will likely be some time before Crumbl’s claims are ruled on by a court or assessed by a jury. Nevertheless, Crumbl’s allegations show the importance of protecting trade secrets from misappropriation by internal personnel, such as departing employees, or external sources, such as business competitors.