Thursday, May 10

Word Battle


The highest pub in England has come out on top in a David-and-Goliath battle with Kentucky Fried Chicken over the right to call one of their meals a "family feast".
Every Christmas, the remote Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales serves a traditional meal of turkey with all the trimmings for £40 a head.
However, American fast food giant KFC threatened legal action against the quirky local for trademark infringement of the chain's own "Family Feast" - a mass-produced carton of crap adulterated chicken pieces, chips, coleslaw, potato with gravy, and a tooth rotting soft drink.
When pub landlady Tracy Daly, received a letter from a London, on law firm on behalf of KFC, she initially thought it was a late April Fool's joke. Even the solicitor's name, Giles Pratt, sounded suspicious, she said.
But she called him, and heard it was serious. "The solicitor told me I shouldn't take it personally, but I don't feel anything - it's just hilarious,"
"They are a multi-million-pound international organisation and I am just a little lady up a mountain."
KFC at first confirmed the lawsuit but a spokesman for the fast food firm said later the company had decided to drop its legal fight.
A spokesperson for KFC GB Ltd said this afternoon: “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.You couldn't make stuff up like this, even if you tried!
"This means that Mrs Daly can continue to use the phrase “family feast” on the pub’s Christmas menu. It’s an unusual situation that has been blown out of all proportion.”
At 1,732 feet the Tan Hill Inn, on the Pennine Way long distance footpath in North Yorkshire, is England's highest pub. It is four miles from the nearest village and 42 miles from a Marks & Spencer, Mrs Daly said.
For more than a year, the pub has advertised its "Christmas Day Family Feast" on its website. The hearty meal starts with soup or Guinness and Stilton pate, followed by roast turkey with Yorkshire puddings, cranberry sauce and vegetables. Punters can choose between Christmas pudding and Strawberry Gateaux for dessert, with coffee or cheese and biscuits to finish.
Which to me sounds a heck of a lot better than KFC,s offering!
How on earth can anyone trademark two words and then say that they own them, it's about time some of these global Goliaths were brought back down to earth.

3 comments:

Inactive said...

American law's a dodgy thing, they would patent and trademark the moon given half a chance.

Glad to see a dose of good old-fashioned Common Sense being used for a change - it's becoming a rarity these days!

Ted Martin said...

"They are a multi-million-pound international organisation and I am just a little lady up a mountain."

This is priceless. I'm glad the lady won. KFC is awful.

Here's an interesting roundup of the American legal system -- the worst of it:

http://www.overlawyered.com/

Among other things, the site is following the case of a judge who is suing a dry cleaning outfit for $65 million after they lost his pants. That's $65 million for a pair of pants!

The legal system over here is absurd.

bob mullen said...

deryk: Yes you are right common sense seems to be a thing of the past.

ted:We unfortunately seem to be following close behind and unfortunately in some cases catching up.