Cronuts Are Officially Trademarked Now

2013 may have been the year of the Cronut, but 2014 may well be the year of the Cronut trademark: As of January 14, the term "Cronut" is an official, registered trademark belonging to inventor Dominique Ansel and his bakery. Ansel tells Eater via email: "I'm just a chef, and never very good at all this legal stuff. I learned a lot and met a lot of good and (very) bad people along the way. But my lawyer has always had my best interests in mind and never led me wrong. She gets a Cronut®, any day. And I'll continue to do what I do, which is make pastries."

While the trademark is good news for Ansel — who applied for the trademark in the Spring of 2013 — it may be bad news for any impostors not bothering to come up with their own name for the croissant-doughnut hybrid. And there are many, many, many knockoffs out there. Read the full trademark registration certificate below:

Cronut Trademark Registration Certificate

· Trademark Status & Document Retrieval: Cronut [USPTO via Grubstreet]
· All Cronut Coverage on Eater [-E-]