Colonel Sanders litigation corps has gone on the offensive – after a competitor dared to use one KFC’s protected trade phrases in a new advertising campaign. Church’s Chicken recently rolled out a new promo campaign using the words ‘original recipe’…
Church’s ‘original recipe’ fried chicken. And other delectables
from their classic southern classics menu…
Church’s isn’t really a competitor to KFC. Not in the global sense. But it is a regional favourite in a number of small, regional markets where the brand flourishes…
Under their (extra-crispy) skin?
It must get under KFC’s skin that other brands are favoured over its ‘secret blend of 11 different herbs and spices’, even if only in isolated pockets of resistance. (It should be noted that Church’s isn’t the only competitor to survive in the face of KFC’s crushing dominance, either.)
But there are some issues that will complicate the Col.’s frontal assault on Church’s, if previous law-suits over slogans are an indication.
What’s at stake?
It’s simple, really. KFC long ago registered the phrase ‘Original Recipe’ to describe it’s original formula for preparing fried chicken. KFC has a record of being jealously protective of anything associated with its identity or ‘image’.
“On behalf of all fried chicken lovers out there, we take it personally when another company tries to claim our iconic taste and branding as their own,” a KFC corporate spokesperson said in a statement last week. “We remain committed to protecting our brand’s intellectual property and safeguarding the experience of our customers.”
Back in September, KFC’s lawyers discovered Church’s was using the phrase ‘our original recipe’ and sent the smaller company a ‘cease and desist’ demand. Church’s ignored it. Probably on advice of its lawyers. And with good reason. There are many precedents on record in which court decisions have struck down claims such KFC’s on the basis that phrases such as ‘original recipe’ are too generic to patent or copyright, or otherwise register.
Nevertheless… Church’s use of the phrase, “is likely to create confusion in the marketplace and dilute [KFC’s] ORIGINAL RECIPE Mark,” the lawsuit says.
My take
KFC bases it’s challenge to Church’s at least in part on the fact that the Col. has been using the phrase ‘Original Recipe’ unchallenged for more than 50 years.
On the other hand, many other fairly sizeable chains have been successfully selling their own ver-sions of fried chi-cken in their own areas of origin, some for almost as long – prepared according to their own ‘original recipes’. Ever heard of Popeye’s, Raising Cane’s, or Zaxby’s? There are many more…
KFC hasn’t tried to put any of them out of business claiming their use of the term, ‘fried chicken’ infringes any kind of KFC patent or trade mark…
It will be interesting to see where this new KFC lawsuit goes. I, for one, am voting for the underdog – or, in this case, ‘under-hen’ – to prevail!
~ Maggie J.