In-N-Out Burger Sues DoorDash for Delivering Its Food Without Permission

Eater ^ | November 11, 2015 | Whitney Filloon

[EveningStar]

... In the complaint, filed November 6 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, In-N-Out accuses the California-based delivery startup of trademark infringement and unfair competition, and seeks a permanent injunction to get DoorDash to stop delivering its food. The lawsuit says that "despite the fact that [DoorDash] is in no way affiliated with [In-N-Out], [DoorDash] has advertised, and continues to advertise, that it delivers food from [In-N-Out's restaurants" -- even displaying a fake In-N-Out logo ...

[EveningStar]

Delivery Start-Up DoorDash Infuriates Some Restaurateurs by Working Around Them

DoorDash site

DoorDash Wikipedia article

In-N-Out Burger is not listed as a restaurant that DoorDash serves in my area (Orange County, CA)

[kingu]

FYI, at the source link is a great Anthony Bordain video explaining what In-N-Out means to a whole lot of people, and of course, doesn't mention the biblical verse that is on every cup this company serves (a privately held family company.)

[faithhopecharity]

InandOut can stop DoorDash from unauthorized display of InandOut’s trademarked logo
but they can’t stop a delivery service (nor should they want to! — there are plenty of additional potential customers for their burgers out here...who can’t or don’t go to buy any.. due to the traffic congestion, lack of parking, or whatnot...they will sell more grub if private delivery services are willing to come in and buy them for all the people who can’t get to the burger stand)

[cherry]

they made the mistake of advertising who they’ll deliver from....otherwise, what’s the problem?.....people want to stay home and get their food delivered and In and Out wants to sell its food....win/win situation....

[deport]

How does the payment work? Does the burger chain get payment up front from the customer?
If not who picks up the tab is the delivery person has been snookered by a fake call out.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

We have several delivery companies in my town who do the same thing, but they work closely with the restaurants to update menus, to handle orders, etc.

DoorDash sounds like they are amateurs who don’t know how to partner with local restaurants.

You can’t use another company’s logo to advertise your own service without their approval. That’s the problem here.

[max americana]

“people want to stay home and get their food delivered”

Dont generalize. It depends on the mood but just like “people”, they get tired of their place and just want to eat out. I’m in L.A. and there are tons of restos I want to try out but there’s too many.

I have all the time to “eat in” once I’m 90 years old at a seniors home while a hot nurse wipes my drool..

[freedumb2003]

>>InandOut can stop DoorDash from unauthorized display of InandOut’s trademarked logo
but they can’t stop a delivery service (nor should they want to! — there are plenty of additional potential customers for their burgers out here...who can’t or don’t go to buy any.. due to the traffic congestion, lack of parking, or whatnot...they will sell more grub if private delivery services are willing to come in and buy them for all the people who can’t get to the burger stand)<<

It is about quality control — which In-n-Out strongly emphasizes and always has.

They can’t be sure the burgers get to the customer hot and ready as when they directly hand it to the customer.

But yeah, if someone buys a burger from them and then sells it to someone else for more there is probably nothing In-n-Out can do.

BTW: Best damn burgers on the planet, bar none (and that includes 5 Guys, *yech* Whataburger and *yech* *yech* Steakburger). Close second is Tommy’s chili burgers (which I miss terribly since leaving the L.A. area).

[EveningStar]

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[faithhopecharity]

Tommy’s is only in LA area (OC, SD, and Vegas included).

as one of their first customers dating back to when they only had their flagship stand at Beverly/Rampart....I definitely miss Tommy’s, a lot

on the other hand, I used to be able to eat 3 of them no problem at 3am. now could never finish even a single one.
I am appetite-challenged these days, alas!

i do think 5guys are pretty good (just too expensive is all)

[dinodino]

Where can I get Tommy’s chili burgers? Where in LA is it?

[Mark was here]

This is no different than someone buying and reselling any other product for a profit. No different than concert tickets or used books.

If you don’t want your products resold, keep them off of the market. Once property is sold, it is property of the new owner, not the former owner.

[EveningStar]

http://www.originaltommys.com/locations/

[ErnBatavia]

How does the payment work?

I saw a clip on TV yesterday that showed somebody ordering a Double-Double via smartphone, for $4.50....in store they're $3.60.

Given such, I'd assume the outfit pays at the window, then gets paid the inflated price from the end customer.

[chud]

I was once staying at a very nice hotel in Las Vegas, and decided I wanted to get In-n-Out Burger and bring it back to the room for my family (we were all tired, and wanted to eat in).
I went downstairs and stood in the cab line, and when I got to the front of the line, the taxi attendant opened the door of the cab and asked me where I was going, so he could tell the driver.
I said "In-n-Out" and his face lit up.
After I got in, he leaned in the front window, handed the driver some money, and said, "Bring me back a double-double, and I'll bump you back up to the front of the line." (this is a big deal for the cabbie, because he doesn't have to go to the back of the line of cabs when he comes back)
The cabbie said cool and off we went. When we got to the In-n-Out drive-through, the cabbie smelled those burgers and ordered a combo meal for himself too.
We had so many In-n-Out meals in that cab, he probably had to ride with the windows down for the rest of the night.
:-)

[Boogieman]

Well, most people will pay with a credit card because they’re ordering online or through their phones. I know on GrubHub, I can choose to pay with cash, but if I stiff them, I imagine my account would get suspended pretty quickly.

[Bogey78O]

The problem is if there is a problem and the end customer blames In and Out for what the middleman does.

[Osage Orange]

I’m 90 years old at a seniors home while a hot nurse wipes my drool..

Well...that sounds hot!

[SMM48]

I used to go to that same one when I worked in downtown L.A.. Been to a few of the others, but the food at that one always seemed to taste better.

[Lazamataz]

1) Find out a company is selling your product, increasing your sales .

2) Sue them to stop.

3) PROFIT!