The Beloved Chain That In-N-Out Once Took To Court Over Its Double-Double Burger

In-N-Out Burger gets a whole lotta love from fast-food fans, but a comparatively new Denver-based chain has been pulling heartstrings across an even wider swath of the country: Smashburger. While there's plenty room for two hipster-style burger icons, the things they have in common ultimately drew them far, far apart in 2017. That's when In-N-Out filed a federal lawsuit against Smashburger in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on August 28, 2017.

As Shakespeare once asked, "What's in a name?" As it turns out, everything in the burger-battle between the two Western-state fast-food darlings. The feud began over Smashburger's advertising of its "Triple Double" burger, which In-N-Out claimed was too similar to its own widely embraced "Double-Double" and "Triple Triple" trademarks. In-N-Out claimed to have held several of those federal or state trademarks since the early 1960s, ones involving things like character, drawing, and typeset marks — which were allegedly being encroached on by Smashburger.

Fast food chains have endured plenty of legal action over the years, including these 15 times fast food chains were sued. But the issues in this lawsuit were typically less about the food itself and more about the way it was represented, specifically how the names and characters were allegedly being used in violation of trademarks and to potentially mislead customers. In-N-Out claimed federal trademark infringement, federal trademark dilution, and federal unfair competition, but it didn't stop there. In 2018, the lawsuit expanded to include a claim of false advertising.

When In-N-Out amended the lawsuit in September 2018, it contended that Smashburger had also engaged in false advertising about the actual content of the Triple Double burger. The advertising in question included slogans like "triple the cheese, double the beef" and "Classic Smash beef build with triple the cheese & double the beef in every bite." Smashburger's "double the beef" language is what ultimately sealed their legal fate — at least in this portion of the amended lawsuit.

The double beef marketing appeared everywhere, from menus and signs to social media and paid advertising. But here's the rub: Smashburger's own recipe materials showed that the Triple Double contained two 2.5-ounce patties, totaling 5 ounces of beef, while the Classic Smash contained a single 5-ounce patty. So, while the Triple Double indeed featured two patties, it didn't actually have twice as much beef as the Classic Smash.

In February 2019, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna sided with In-N-Out on part of the false advertising issue, ruling that Smashburger's claims were literally false. But the ruling wasn't a total slam-dunk for In-N-Out, since the same judge said there was no proof that it had (or would) suffered harm from it. After that, what remained of the case sizzled out, ending months later in what was recorded as an anticlimactic settlement.

For more info on a burger worth suing over, here are the things you didn't know about In-N-Out's Double-Double. And here's a look at when In-N-Out served a 100x100 Double-Double in Las Vegas.