KFC threatens to sue small pub

A small country pub in the Pennines has received a letter from solicitors on behalf of fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, claiming that the landlord had breached one of KFC's trademarks on the pub's menu.

KFC has taken issue with the term 'Family Feast', which appears on the Tan Inn's Christmas menu, as the fast food giants hold the registered trademark for the name on family-sized buckets of chicken meals.

Although copyright laws do exist in Britain and Northern Ireland to protect businesses, Tracy Daly, the pub's licensee, does not understand how KFC may have thought they could be threatened by her small business.

Ms Daly told the Daily Mail: "We and KFC are worlds apart in the food business. We are not in the High Street we are so remote we are just a speck on the landscape. They are a multi-million pound, international organisation and I am a little lady up a mountain."

She added that the 'Family Feast' advertised on the Tan Inn's menu is a traditional Christmas dinner: "It about as similar to a KFC meal as chalk is to cheese," she protested. "I could understand if we had set out to rip off what they do, but this is worlds away."

Ms Daly said she had been warned by KFC's solicitors to take the matter in earnest and so far two separate solicitors firms have already offered to take on the case on her behalf for no charge.

"We will have to consider what we do, but we just hope KFC will realise they have been a bit silly and just let it drop. Perhaps we should apologise on our website for threatening their business," Ms Daly concluded.

A spokesperson for KFC GB commented: "Family Feast is a registered trade mark of Kentucky Fried Chicken (Great Britain) Limited. KFC devotes significant resources to promoting and protecting its trademarks. This particular instance is being dealt with by our solicitors."

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