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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
Atlanta-based fast-food chain Chick-fil-A has warned a folk artist to stop using his trademark phrase, “eat more kale,” because of potential trademark violations.
In an Oct. 4 letter, an attorney for Chick-fil-A, said that Bo Mueller-Moore’s use of the phrase may cause public confusion over the franchise’s own trademark phrase, “eat mor chikin,” which is accompanied with images of cows misspelling the words, according to an Associated Press news report.
Mr. Muller-Moore, a self-proclaimed folk artist in Montpelier, Vt., said he started using “eat more kale” in 2000 and built a silkscreen business out of the phrase, which is printed on T-shirts, sweatshirts and bumper stickers, according to the report.
“Eat more kale” refers to the benefits of local agriculture, Mr. Mueller-Moore said in the news report.
In the letter—which orders Mr. Mueller-Moore to stop using the phrase and relinquish his website, eatmorekale.com—Chick-fil-A said Mr. Mueller-Moore’s message “dilutes the distinctiveness of Chick-fil-A’s intellectual property and diminishes its value,” according to the AP report.
Mr. Mueller-Moore first received a cease-and-desist letter from Chick-fil-A in 2005 and hired a pro bono lawyer to respond. After the letters stopped, he thought the fight was over.
But the dispute resumed after Mr. Mueller-Moore sought to protect his phrase by filing an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as his business expanded, according to the report.
"Our plan is to not back down. This feels like David vs. Goliath,” Mr. Mueller-Moore told the AP.