The Dirty Dough lawsuit story is really several overlapping cases: a 2022 trade-secrets and trade-dress suit from rival Crumbl Cookies that settled in October 2023, a July 2025 breach-of-contract suit from an Illinois-based area developer, and roughly ten separate Utah creditor cases that, by September 2025, had led a judge to approve auctioning the company’s trademarks to pay a supplier debt.
The Crumbl Case That Started It All
In the summer of 2022, Crumbl Cookies sued Dirty Dough and its founder in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, in a case styled Crumbl LLC v. Dirty Dough LLC and Bradley Maxwell (Case No. 2:22-CV-318-HCN-CMR). Two theories drove the complaint: that Dirty Dough had misappropriated Crumbl’s trade secrets, and that its branding was confusingly similar to Crumbl’s.1Nation’s Restaurant News. Crumbl Cookies Declares Victory in Trade Secret Case, Rival Dirty Dough Happy With Preliminary Injunction Denial
The trade-secret piece rested on a concrete fact pattern. Bradley Maxwell, the brother of Dirty Dough founder Bennett Maxwell, had worked as a process engineer at Crumbl in 2019. In his final week there, before Crumbl terminated him, he downloaded 66 recipes along with sales statistics, store blueprints, and build-out guides from a password-protected server to his personal cloud drive.2Brown Rudnick. Crumbling Cookies: Franchise Activity Request Denied in Alleged Trade Secrets Theft In September 2021, he uploaded those files to Dirty Dough’s Google Drive and shared them with his brother and other employees.3U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. Crumbl LLC v. Dirty Dough LLC, No. 2:22-CV-318-HCN-CMR He had signed both a confidentiality agreement and a separate recipe agreement at Crumbl.
The trade-dress claim was broader. Crumbl asserted rights over its oblong pink cookie boxes, its logo of a cookie with a bite taken out, its weekly rotating menu, and its overall cookie presentation.4Galvani Legal. Crumbl Cookies Trademarks Dirty Dough denied the claims.
The Preliminary Injunction Ruling
On August 11, 2023, U.S. District Judge Howard Curtis Nielson Jr. issued a split decision. The court found Crumbl had a “likelihood of success” in proving that Dirty Dough took trade secrets. But it refused the remedies Crumbl wanted. Crumbl had asked the court to bar Dirty Dough from opening new franchise locations and to compel its executives to publicly admit they stole proprietary recipes and blueprints. Judge Nielson called both requests “profoundly anti-competitive” and said they would “go too far.”5Law360. Crumbl Can’t Block Rival From Opening Stores in IP Fight The judge noted the downloaded material had already been returned under a prior stipulated order, and there was no evidence Dirty Dough had actually incorporated the recipes into its products. A forced corrective statement, he added, would be an unconstitutional restraint on speech.2Brown Rudnick. Crumbling Cookies: Franchise Activity Request Denied in Alleged Trade Secrets Theft
How the Crumbl Case Ended
Crumbl and Dirty Dough settled in October 2023. Both companies acknowledged in a joint statement that a former owner of Dirty Dough had downloaded Crumbl’s recipes and operational information while employed at Crumbl. Dirty Dough agreed to return the information and change certain cookie boxes. Financial terms were not disclosed.6KUTV. Utah Cookie Companies Crumbl, Dirty Dough Reach Settlement Over Recipe, Packaging Dispute The federal case was closed. Months later, in January 2024, restaurant holding company Craveworthy Brands announced it had acquired a significant stake in Dirty Dough, and by September 2024 it had taken full ownership through an equity swap with Bennett Maxwell.7Restaurant Business Online. Craveworthy Brands Takes Full Ownership of Dirty Dough
The 2025 Franchisee Lawsuit
On July 18, 2025, Illinois-based area developer Indvestia Ventures sued Dirty Dough and Craveworthy Brands in DuPage County Circuit Court for breach of a multistate development agreement.8Franchise Times. Midwest Developers File Lawsuit Against Dirty Dough Alleging Non-Payments
Indvestia signed its agreement in December 2023 for exclusive rights to develop 45 Dirty Dough restaurants across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Northwest Indiana over five years, investing $450,000. Under the deal, Indvestia was entitled to 100% of initial franchise fees, 100% of transfer fees, and 50% of ongoing royalties from operators it brought into the system.9QSR Magazine. Area Developer Sues Dirty Dough Over Breach of Development Agreement, Unpaid Fees
The complaint alleged that Dirty Dough failed to pay a $35,000 franchise fee owed on a 2024 Milwaukee location sale, then stopped paying Indvestia’s royalty share entirely after December 13, 2024. It also alleged that the franchisor unilaterally cut the contractual developer franchise fee from $40,000 to $35,000, let its Indiana franchise registration lapse from May 23, 2024 to October 23, 2024 (making new franchisee sign-ups impossible in that state during the gap), and refused to meet after Indvestia sent a formal notice of breach in April 2025.
Craveworthy CEO Gregg Majewski responded publicly that the company takes its contractual obligations “seriously,” is “confident in our position,” and will address the matter through “appropriate channels.” He added that when Craveworthy acquires emerging brands, it is “often with the understanding that there may be challenges that predate their involvement.”10Fast Casual. Craveworthy CEO Denies Wrongdoing in Franchise Lawsuit The case is pending.
Utah Creditor Suits and the Trademark Auction
The Indvestia case was not the only trouble. By September 2025, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that 10 separate lawsuits had been filed against Dirty Dough in Utah since January 2025, with creditors alleging the company had stopped paying on various agreements. Claims across those cases totaled at least $2.1 million.11The Salt Lake Tribune. Dirty Dough Trademarks May Be Sold to Pay Debts
The largest known claim came from C&J Specialties, a cookie dough supplier in Ephraim, Utah. A March 2025 court agreement required Dirty Dough to pay C&J $1.54 million in 104 weekly installments of about $14,807. When the company reportedly began missing those payments, a Utah judge approved the seizure and auction of Dirty Dough’s trademarks to satisfy the debt. Eight trademarks are slated for auction, including the Dirty Dough name, the logo depicting a cookie with a bite missing, and “Deeper Than Dough,” the name of Bennett Maxwell’s podcast.12Page 801. The Spectacular Crumble of Dirty Dough
The situation exposed the brand’s split corporate structure. Dirty Dough Enterprises, the Utah entity that holds the trademarks, is a holding company; the actual business operations were transferred to Delaware subsidiaries under Craveworthy. With no tangible assets in the Utah entity, the trademarks are the only property creditors can reach. As of early 2026, the auction process is still ongoing.
Where Things Stand
Dirty Dough has not shut down. Locations have closed recently in Augusta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; Parker, Colorado; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Austin, Texas; Laurel, Maryland; and Logan, Utah.13Nation’s Restaurant News. Dirty Dough, Craveworthy Brands Accused of Non-Payment of Franchise Royalty Fees Even so, the brand still lists more than 65 locations, recorded $53.8 million in sales in 2024, and remains part of the Craveworthy portfolio, which continues to accept franchise applications.14Craveworthy Brands. Our Brands No bankruptcy or receivership filing has been publicly reported. The Indvestia franchisee case, the Utah creditor cases, and the trademark auction proceedings are all unresolved.