But now one of those brands is attempting to claim control over the pantry staple in a heated battle. The Guardian first reported food empire Momofuku, founded by chef, author, restaurateur David Chang, sent cease-and-desist letters to multiple businesses using the term "chili crunch" and "chile crunch" on their labels and is trying to trademark "chili crunch" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office . It was filed in March.
A spokesperson for Momofuku told the Los Angeles Times, that the trademark was never intended to "stifle innovation in a category that we care deeply about.""When we created our product, we wanted a name we could own and intentionally picked ‘Chili Crunch’ to further differentiate it from the broader chili crisp category," the spokesperson wrote in an email to the Times. "We worked with a family-owned company called Chile Colonial to purchase the trademark from them.