Bradley Olson and Terry Mills see themselves as two regular guys trying to eke out a living working 75 hours per week each in their fledging Hutchinson restaurant, Burrito Guy.

Officials of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., a Denver-based company with sales of almost $823 million last year, see Olson and Mills as trespassers on Chipotle’s trade marks.

Burrito Guy, which opened in May at the intersection of California Street and State Highway 7, serves large burritos made right in front of the customer. Chipotle, which has grown to 640 restaurants since its founding in 1993, serves large burritos made right in front of the customer.

In a cease and desist order sent by Chipotle’s Denver legal firm and received Monday by Burrito Guy’s Mills and Olson, the bigger company claims the Hutchinson eatery encroaches too directly on the theme and décor used at Chipotle restaurants.

The letter points to the use of corrugated metal siding for wainscoting, paint colors, chair and lighting systems, having the kitchen open to the public and other design features as being too much like Chipotle’s, and will confuse consumers. It doesn’t make an issue of the similar food.

Mills and Olson see themselves as David threatened by a Goliath of the food industry and deny they intentionally set out to model Burrito Guy after Chipotle. Though they’ve eaten at Chipotle, they say Burrito Guy evolved after years of shaping their vision for a restaurant. They plan to stay open.

Olson said Chipotle officials have visited Burrito guy and were allowed to take pictures. The cease and desist letter that arrived afterwards, however, was the first official word they had received from the Denver company, Mills added.

The entrepreneurs have asked their St. Paul-based attorney, Eric Johnson, to reply for them. He said even if someone has a strong case, it can be expensive to do battle with a large company. He plans to “nicely” ask Chipotle to drop their action against Burrito Guy.

A spokesman for Chipotle agreed the issue really is about the restaurant’s design and décor, what is known in the industry as trade dress.

“We really work to protect our trade marks and service marks to prevent them from being unfairly copied by other restaurants,” Chris Arnold said Wednesday. “We don’t have any problem with competition. What we have a problem with is when others steal components of our concept.”

Read more about the issue in the Oct. 4 print edition of the Hutchinson Leader.

(Terry Davis is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at davis@hutchinsonleader.com [2].)