

Heyo! The In-N-Out knockoff burger joint has a website, and they are calling themselves CaliBurger™. As in trademarked. You know what they’ve also trademarked? All of In-N-Out’s secret menu options in Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia, and Australia. According to them, anyway:

We formed CaliBurger to bring the highest quality hamburgers, french fries, and shakes to emerging markets. CaliBurger’s products consist of only the freshest, most superior ingredients. Unlike the frozen meats used by most fast food restaurants, we serve fresh and juicy patties. We slice our french fries by hand from real potatoes in the restaurant. Most important, we pride ourselves on having the best service in the world.

CaliBurger is launching its first restaurant in Shanghai, China in Fall 2011. CaliBurger owns trademark applications and registered trademarks on its signature products “Double Double,” “Animal Style,” and “Protein Style” in its target markets: China, Korea, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. There are ongoing legal proceedings in US Federal District Court to resolve a dispute with In-N-Out Burger, which owns the same trademarks in the United States.

Very clever. And since we were reassured last month that In-N-Out is certainly not in a position to expand to China at this time, it’s hard not to get just a twinge excited for CaliBurger’s 48RMB DoubleDouble and 28RMB Bourbon-spiked milkshakes.

They are also putting out a call for applicants to be their ambassador, called the “Caliburger girl”. You can go here to browse the 12 contenders and vote for a winner whenever they actually manage to find some contestants.



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