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Looks like they’re In-N-Out of here…

The Federal Court has found that a Sydney burger chain has been passing itself off as US fast food giant In-N-Out while operating as “Down-N-Out”.

In-N-Out sued Hashtag Burgers, which runs the Sydney chain, back in 2017 after they noticed that the Sydney chain had copied name, similar yellow arrow logo, and use of In-N-Out’s registered trademarks “animal style” and “protein style”. Fair enough tbh, seems pretty cut and dry.

The Sydney chain opened in 2016 as a pop up in Sydney, but has since gone on to have a presence in the CBD, Penrith, Wollongong, Crows Nest, Ryde and the Gold Coast.

In court this week, Justice Anna Katzmann found that the Sydney burger chain “sailed too close to the wind” and said they had crossed “the line between inspiration and appropriation”.

To make matters worse for the Sydney business, Katzmann referenced a burger event they ran in Chippendale in 2015, where they posted on social media to expect “the legendary In’Ou… I mean the Down ‘N’ Out burger”. Straight up amateur hour over here.

“I therefore find that the respondents sought to attract potential customers by having them wonder whether Down-N-Out was, indeed, In-N-Out Burger”, Katzmann said.

The case will return to court next month, looks like Down-N-Out is down on their luck (last pun, I swear).