I’ll
preface
this
post
by
saying
a
part
of
me
hates
writing
posts
like
this.
We
recently
talked
about
a trademark
lawsuit brought
by
KFC
against
Church’s
Chicken
centered
on
Church’s
advertisements
of
a
return
to
its
“original
recipe”
for
some
of
its
chicken.
Powering
the
suit
was
the
trademark
KFC
has
on
the
term
“Original
Recipe”.
As
I
outlined
in
the
original
post,
this
trademark
granted
by
the
USPTO
way
back
in
the
1970s
never
should
have
been
a
thing.
It’s
generic,
it’s
descriptive,
and
it’s
all
the
moreso
both
when
you
consider
that
it
was
granted
for
the
restaurant
market.
So
why
do
I
partially
hate
writing
posts
like
this
one?
Well,
because
we
recently
got
news
that KFC
has
dropped
the
suit
entirely,
citing
that
it
reached
an
amicable
resolution
with
Church’s.
My
frustration
stems
entirely
from
the
completely
opaque
nature
of
whatever
that
resolution
is.
Here
is
the
entirely
of
what
we
know:
um!
Brands’
KFC (YUM.N),
opens
new
tab told
a
Texas
federal
court
on
Tuesday
that
it
would
end
its
lawsuit
over
rival
fast-food
chain
Church’s
Texas
Chicken’s
use
of
its
trademarked
phrase
“Original
Recipe”
in
advertising.
KFC
and
Church’s
said
they
“amicably
resolved”
the
dispute
in
a
statement
provided
by
a
KFC
spokesperson
on
Tuesday.
KFC asked
the
court
to
dismiss
the
case,
opens
new
tab without
prejudice,
which
means
it
could
refile
the
lawsuit
later.
So,
since
there
doesn’t
appear
to
be
any
public
information
as
to
what
the
resolution
was
to
this,
all
I
can
really
do
is
speculate.
So
speculate
I
shall!
If
I
had
to
place
any
bets,
I
would
bet
that
Church’s
lawyers
explained
to
KFC
that
its
use
was
generic
and
descriptive
in
nature,
thereby not being
trademark
infringement.
I
would
bet
as
well
that
Church’s
legal
team
pointed
out
that
if
this
suit
were
to
continue
it
would
consider
petitioning
to
have
KFC’s
“Original
Recipe”
trademark
canceled
for
the
same
reasons.
I
would
further
guess
that
KFC
got
Church’s
to
agree
to
only
use
the
term
in
these
same
descriptive
and
generic
ways,
in
order
to
make
this
suit
go
away.
Why
is
that
what
I
think
happened?
A
couple
of
reasons.
First,
settlements
like
this,
even
those
with
terms
not
made
publicly,
often
come
with
at
least
the
news
that
the
defendant
will
change
its
use
of
trademarked
terms
in
question.
That
doesn’t
seem
to
be
in
any
of
the
announcements
about
this
settlement.
There’s
no
reason
for
it
not
to
be;
everyone
will
notice
if
Church’s
suddenly
rips
down
all
the
signage
that
advertises
its
original
recipe.
Second
is
the
dismissal
without
prejudice.
That
leads
me
to
believe
that
Church’s
agreed
not
to
use
the
language
in
ways
beyond
what
it
has
to
date,
in
terms
of
it
being
descriptive
and
generic
in
nature.
This
allows
KFC
to
file
suit
again
if
Church’s
goes
beyond
that.
Admittedly,
as
stated,
that
is
all
pure
speculation.
I
guess
in
the
meantime
I’ll
just
have
to
walk
by
my
local
Church’s
Chicken
and
see
what
the
signs
say.
But
for
now,
this
lawsuit
is
dead.
KFC
Abrubptly
Drops
‘Original
Recipe’
Tradeamark
Suit
Against
Church’s
Chicken
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