Michelle McCliman Trademarks Law Blog on Lawyers.com

In-N-Out Burger Copied in China

Saturday, February 11, 2012 by Michelle McCliman

Photo of Michelle McCliman
As if the Chinese counterfeiters were bad enough, a company should also
protect themselves against employees and former employees.  Apparently,
some former employees took the concept from In-N-Out Burger to Shanghai,
China.  With the Chinese showing an affinity for McDonalds Big Macs and
Burger King Whoppers, some former employees of the Irvine-based
In-N-Out thought they would try their hand at bringing In-N-Out to
China.  The problem was that they did it without the blessing of
In-N-Out and copied In-N-Out's trademarks and trade dress (and may have
taken some trade secrets).



This is just another reminder that a company should protect itself
against intellectual property theft by its current and former
employees.  Depending on the company's size and intellectual property,
the ways to protect against such theft varies.  Usually, it will start
with an intellectual property audit (see earlier post) and result in
building an intellectual property plan tailored to your company. 
 
Posted at 11:05 AM
Topic: Trademarks
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