Culver’s Trademarks

Culver’s is a chain of casual restaurants fully known as Culver’s Frozen Custard. The company began operations as a single restaurant in Sauk City, Wisconsin. By 2003, it had grown to about 200 locations, most being run as franchises.

Most Culver’s restaurants are located in the Midwest. There are other stores in Kentucky and Texas.

Culver’s operates in the middle ground between family dining and fast food. The average restaurant seats about 120 customers, each spending on average $7.

Their most popular menu item is the butter-basted hamburger known as the Butter Burger and it’s closely followed by its frozen custard ice cream.

Let’s look at the company’s history, menu, and trademarks.

The History of Culver’s

George and Ruth Culver, a couple who were also restaurateurs in Sauk City, started working in the fast food industry in 1961, as the owners of an A&W. That business was located on Phillips Boulevard, U.S Highway 12, in Sauk City. In 1968, the duo bought The Farm Kitchen, a resort-style restaurant located in  Devil’s Lake.

Craig Culver, the couple’s son, worked at a local McDonald’s after graduating from college in 1973. George and Ruth sold their restaurants, while Craig and his former wife, Lea, quit their jobs, in order to open the first Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers.

The business launched on July 18, 1984, with Craig taking charge of the business from its inception until 2015.

In October 2017, the Culver family sold a minority stake in the company Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta private equity firm. The family, however, still retains the majority stake in the company.

The first Culver’s franchisee was at Richland Center, a location near the restaurant’s original site of operations. After the family met with the potential franchisee, an agreement was reached, which granted the franchisee a loose licensing agreement that carried no royalties or fees.

Since the franchisee had invested very little money, he walked away a year later after deciding he didn’t want to run a restaurant business.

After this experience, the Culver family established a set of standard procedures to regulate franchising the restaurant. It forms the basis of the procedures used today by Culver Franchising System Inc.

Three years later, the Culver family attempted franchising again, this time in Baraboo using the new model. Business doubled quickly.

The increased recognition that came with this second store prompted Culvers to expand into Madison, Middleton, and Milwaukee.

Culver’s was still a small, local chain in 1993, boasting only 14 restaurants spread across southern Wisconsin. The first restaurant outside Wisconsin was opened in September 1995 in Buffalo, Minnesota. By December 1995, the company opened another location in Roscoe, Illinois, followed by a new location in Dubuque, Iowa, in November 1997.

The first Culver’s in Texas was opened in February 1998.

Culver’s franchising strategy focuses on contiguous expansion, with the company opening about 40 stores annually. In 2005, Culver’s expanded into Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. In July 2006, the franchise expanded to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The company then fully shifted its attention to expanding beyond the Midwest.

Culver’s developed a new store concept, which would be named the Metro-98 prototype, a 98-seater store that required about 20% less land for construction than the traditional 120-seat restaurant the company previously built.

The first Metro-98 prototype was built at Ford Dodge, Iowa.

In 2008, Culver’s broke ground in the Phoenix metropolitan area. By July 2017, there were 26 locations in Arizona. In January 2022, Culver’s expanded into Arkansas. As of August 2022, Culver’s can be found across 26 states with over 875 restaurants.

Culver’s Menu

Culver’s ventured into casual dining in 2000, opening a restaurant named Culver’s Blue Spoon Creamery Café in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.  This new venture was meant to serve a lighter fair of soups, salads, and sandwiches. The name Blue Spoon came from the blue color of the spoons Culver’s used in its fast food restaurants.

This offshoot opened a second store in Middleton, Wisconsin, but that location stayed open for only two years, closing in August 2010. The Prairie du Sac location eventually closed in May 2020.

The primary item on Culver’s menu is the butter burger. Other offerings include fish, chicken sandwiches, salads, cheese curds, and french fries. For dessert, the restaurant also offers frozen custard served as either a cone, a dish, or blended into a concrete mixer or shake.

On October 15, 2021, Culver’s sold the CurderBurger, a limited-time menu item sold in celebration of National Cheese Day. The CurderBurger consisted of a large cheese curd on top of a burger patty.

The CurderBurger was originally meant to be an April Fools’ joke, which Culver released showing a large fried cheese curd in a burger bun with the name CurderBurger. A change.org petition, signed by over 600 consumers made the burger a reality.

Culver’s Trademarks

Culver’s has obtained or sought federal registration for about 17 trademarks. These include “BLUE SPOON,” “WELCOME TO DELICIOUS,” and “CURDERBURGER.”

In July 2002, Culver’s obtained a federal trademark registration for “BLUE SPOON” and uses the trademark for its restaurant services, café services, and ice cream parlors.

Culver’s also obtained federal trademark registration for “WELCOME TO DELICIOUS.” The company used the trademark for its restaurant services.