Chipotle Is Taking Sweetgreen To Court Over Its New Chicken Burrito Bowl

Chipotle and Sweetgreen are two major brands in the fast-casual food space, but they've coexisted without incident until now. Chipotle is a popular Mexican food chain where burritos are the meal of choice and "guac is extra" is practically the unofficial slogan. The chain was founded by Steve Ells back in 1993, with the first location taking the place of an out-of-business ice cream shop in Colorado. Today, there are thousands of Chipotle locations, and the burrito chain is a household name.

Sweetgreen, on the other hand, is a bit newer; three Georgetown classmates brought their salad idea to fruition in 2007, and the brand has since garnered a major fan base among young working Americans. 

Now, the two chains are involved in a legal battle. Chipotle claims that Sweetgreen's new chicken burrito bowl is too similar — in both its ingredients and its marketing — to the Chipotle chicken burrito bowl.

NPR reports that Chipotle is calling Sweetgreen's new chicken burrito bowl "trademark infringement" and has filed a lawsuit saying Sweetgreen is engaging in "trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and deceptive trade practice."

Chipotle's main issue with the new Sweetgreen menu item is that Sweetgreen's marketing campaign for the item appears to suggest there is a relationship between the two chains when there is not. In addition to the claims that Sweetgreen's new bowl is made with too-similar ingredients to Chipotle's, the lawsuit calls out the chicken burrito bowl's marketing — from a font that's too similar to a background color (adobo red) that mimics Chipotle's marketing. Though Sweetgreen is aware of the lawsuit, the company has not commented, saying it does not offer comments on pending litigation.

This isn't the first time Sweetgreen has been sued. Back in 2016, a class-action lawsuit was filed by the chain's blind customers over an inaccessible website, which they claimed violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. They later reached a settlement, and the company has since made its website accessible to those with impaired vision. Another lawsuit was filed in 2020 after a former employee accused the chain of sexual harassment and discrimination; the outcome of the 2020 lawsuit is unclear.