May 2007
When Family Feasts Turn Sour
Kernel Sanders may have spoiled Christmas for one country pub in
North Yorkshire. The fried chicken giant threatened to sue the Tan
Hill Pub for trade mark infringement after the pub advertised its
Christmas dinner as a “Family Feast”, a registered trade
mark of KFC. The family feast is a cornerstone of KFC’s brand
as the fast food giant competes in this ever increasing saturated
market. According to KFC’s website the family feast includes
the mouth watering combination of 10 pieces of freshly prepared Original
Recipe chicken, Large Chips, Large Coleslaw, Large Potato & Gravy,
and 1.25L Drink to meet all the family’s needs. Meanwhile the
pub’s landlady Tracy Daly went for the more traditional combination
of Guinness and stilton pate, roast turkey and Christmas pudding.
Despite this gastronomic diversity the fast food giant felt the need
to establish its ownership credentials by sending threatening letters.
KFC have since dropped the case after it received negative press
coverage but defended its actions stating that “KFC has to
protect its trademarks against those who seek to trade off its brand.
KFC has spoken to Mrs. Daly at the Tan Hill Inn and confirmed that
it will not take this case any further", further adding, "It’s
an unusual situation that has been blown out of all proportion".
Briffa’s Opinion
The press unsurprisingly latched
onto this incident as it highlighted the classic David and Goliath
scenarios that intellectual property law sometimes throws up. However
KFC were faced with a difficult a situation. Having managed to register
an incredibly generic term they are now in a position where they
are going to have to fight to keep it. While use of this mark by
one obscure pub in Yorkshire will probably not dilute the mark’s reputation this action
sends out a warning to other eating establishments so that this remains
an “unusual situation”. If larger pub chains started
running a similar campaign without KFC challenging them, it could
well impact the mark’s registrability. The dilemma for a company
like KFC is that in doing so it may well damage the company’s
reputation if it is seen as brand bully. It will be a question of
judgement whether such tactics are worth it.