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‘Eat More Kale’ Company Is Losing Against Chick-Fil-A in Trademark Battle

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Re: ‘Eat More Kale’ Company Is Losing Against Chick-Fil-A in Trademark Battle

#4
post #2

Is it really possible to trademark a sentence where the plain meaning of the sentence is something that people would ordinarily say?

Interesting question -- googled this which answers it pretty well:

Additionally, unless the slogan is in itself inherently distinctive and qualifies as a mark in itself, the USPTO requires that the slogan be identified with the product or service so that the consuming public, upon hearing the slogan, relates it to the particular product or service. This requirement means that the slogan has developed what the law refers to as a “secondary meaning.” The best examples of this type of slogan are “Just Do It” (Nike) and “Finger Lickin’ Good (KFC).

Re: ‘Eat More Kale’ Company Is Losing Against Chick-Fil-A in Trademark Battle

#7
I had no idea that Chick-Fil-A had a slogan, let alone that it was that retarded. "Eet Moar Chikin" or something like that? What the hell. How is "Eat More Kale" even similar? One is clearly serious (Kale) and the other is clearly trying to sound like ICanHazCheezeburger (Chick-fil-A).

Re: ‘Eat More Kale’ Company Is Losing Against Chick-Fil-A in Trademark Battle

#9
post #7

I had no idea that Chick-Fil-A had a slogan, let alone that it was that retarded. "Eet Moar Chikin" or something like that? What the hell. How is "Eat More Kale" even similar? One is clearly serious (Kale) and the other is clearly trying to sound like ICanHazCheezeburger (Chick-fil-A).

FWIW (though not particularly relevant to the case), the Chick-Fil-A slogan is from a (very successful) advertising campaign that goes back to the mid-90s. It's definitely not trying to imitate internet memes.

But I'm very surprised that, given the integral nature of the misspellings (the cows did not get a great education) in the Chick-Fil-A version, this could be seen as infringing.

Re: ‘Eat More Kale’ Company Is Losing Against Chick-Fil-A in Trademark Battle

#10
post #7

I had no idea that Chick-Fil-A had a slogan, let alone that it was that retarded. "Eet Moar Chikin" or something like that? What the hell. How is "Eat More Kale" even similar? One is clearly serious (Kale) and the other is clearly trying to sound like ICanHazCheezeburger (Chick-fil-A).

The "Eat Mor Chikin" campaign (and the cows) long pre-date anything to do with ICanHazCheezeburger. I remember driving on the highways in Atlanta in the late 1990s seeing the billboards everywhere and always commenting to my girlfriend at the time, "wow, that campaign is really played out at this point!"

I don't remember when, specifically, that it started--but I do remember it was the early-to-mid-90s.

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