Dunkin' and Beyond Meat hit with lawsuit by Philadelphia company over vegan sausage sandwich slogan

• Vegadelphia Foods accused Dunkin' and Beyond of stealing the slogan they used for a vegan snack.
• Dunkin' and Beyond released the sandwich in 2019 with the slogan "Plant-Based, Great Taste."

Dunkin' and Beyond Meat have been hit with a lawsuit from a Philadelphia vegetarian food producer over the slogan for a plant-based sausage sandwich.

The companies launched the sandwich jointly in 2019.

Vegadelphia Foods, a subsidiary of the Sonate Corporation, said in a filing to a Florida District court on Thursday that it patented the slogan "Where Great Taste is Plant-Based" four years before Dunkin' and Beyond Meat revealed a similar slogan, "Plant-Based, Great Taste," alongside their Beyond Sausage Sandwich in 2019.

The plant-based food producer said it trademarked its slogan through the United States Patent and Trademark Office in March 2015.

In its lawsuit, Vegadelphia Foods said the companies launched a huge ad campaign using the slogan, including online ads featuring Snoop Dogg promoting the product, asking customers: "You want that Plant-Based Great Taste fresh out of the oven?"

Vegadelphia Foods also accused Dunkin' and Beyond of imitating the placement and imagery of its own advertisements in a way that it said was "beyond coincidence."

Vegadelphia Foods company estimated that Dunkin' and Beyond had made more than $100 million in sales in the first six months of the vegan sausage sandwich going on the market.

Vegadelphia Foods said it was seeking to recover damages plus a share of Dunkin' and Beyond's profits, while also requesting the companies be blocked from using the slogan.

Dunkin', Beyond Meat, and Vegadelphia Foods did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment on the lawsuit.