‘David and Goliath’ Feud Between Artist & Chick-Fil-A
A Vermont business owner has taken up a battle against Chick-fil-A over the phrase “eat more kale.”
In expanding his home agriculture business around the phrase, Bo Muller-Moore has met opposition from the Atlanta-based fried chicken company who uses the advertising phrase “eat mor chikin.”
Muller-Moore says that “eat more kale” is an expression of the benefits of local agriculture and he believes that the battle “feels like David versus Goliath.”
A lawyer for Chick-fil-A issued a letter to Muller-Moore indicating that his “eat more kale” slogan “is likely to cause confusion of the public and dilutes the distinctiveness of Chick-fil-A’s intellectual property and diminishes its value.”
Chick-fil-A remains the second leading chicken restaurant trailing only Kentucky-based KFC. The fast-food chain is well known for staunchly guarding its trademark and the aforementioned letter cited 30 examples of other people attempting to use a phrase with “eat more” in it.
The cease-and-desist letter also demanded that Muller-Moore turn over his website, eatmorekale.com [http://eatmorekale.com], to Chick-fil-A. The 38-year-old Vermont native said he has refused to relinquish neither the phrase nor the site.
“Our plan is to not back down,” Muller-Moore told The Associated Press. “I know what it’s like to protect what’s yours in business.”
Muller-Moore hired attorney Daniel Richardson and has also employed help from the intellectual property clinic at the University Of New Hampshire School Of Law’s Intellectual Property and Transaction Clinic.
Using a hand silkscreen machine, Muller-Moore applies “eat more kale” to t-shirts, bags, bumper stickers, and many other items. In an attempt to protect the trademark of his growing business from copycats, the entrepreneur caught the attention of the restaurant giant.
Muller-Moore is still awaiting approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to protect “eat more kale” since applying for it last summer. Chick-fil-A has over 1500 restaurants in 39 states mostly in southern California and the Midwest. They are famous for their fresh, high quality chicken, as well as their real lemonade.
The company was started by S. Truett Cathy, a Christian from Atlanta, Ga. Famous Chick-fil-A slogans include: “We Didn’t Invent Chicken, Just the Chicken Sandwich,” and “EAT MORE CHIKIN.”
Annually, Chick-fil-A brings in $3.5 billion in sales. This impressive total could be even higher, but Chick-fil-A restaurants are closed every Sunday, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
