A Boise pizza company says KFC copied its name and logo. See what you think
The chicken may be “finger lickin’ good,” but KFC might have set itself up to take a licking from an Idaho pizza company.
The parent company of Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grill is suing the company formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, alleging that it infringed on Smoky Mountain’s name and logo after developing a Smoky Mountain line of barbecue chicken.
Triple T Enterprises sued Dec. 30 in U.S. District Court in Boise.
“The defendants are using the same word mark and a confusingly similar variation of the Triple T Smoky Mountain logo that incorporates both the term ‘Smoky Mountain’ as well as Triple T’s three mountain ridges into KFC’s logo mark,” Boise attorney Scott Tschirgi wrote.
The Boise company seeks an injunction and unspecified damages based on KFC’s sales of its Smoky Mountain chicken.
Since 2004, Triple T has obtained more than a dozen registered trademarks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They cover the restaurant name, logos, pizza, grilled food, sandwiches, barbecue sauce and food delivery.
A check of the Patent and Trademark Office’s website does not list any registrations for KFC under Smoky Mountain.
Smoky Mountain Pizzeria was founded in 1992 and operates two restaurants in Boise and one each in Meridian, Eagle, Kuna, Nampa, Mountain Home and Ketchum. Sales have exceeded $30 million during the past three years, the court document said.
Smoky Mountain claims that KFC, which operates 4,033 restaurants in the United States, including 15 in Idaho, has engaged in unfair competition and that its actions have caused “irreparable harm and injury” to its reputation.
“The defendant’s actions were undertaken intentionally to obtain an unfair advantage over Triple T and in conscious disregard of Triple T’s rights, and were malicious, oppressive and/or fraudulent,” Tschirgi wrote.
KFC started a national advertising and social media campaign around January 2018 promoting its line of Smoky Mountain barbecue chicken. Smoky Mountain Pizzeria said it has suffered and “continues to suffer substantial damages and irreparable injury.”
Grubhub and Postmates, two companies that provide home delivery of restaurant food, are also named as defendants. They’re accused of delivering Smoky Mountain-branded food to KFC customers.
Representatives of KFC and Grubhub did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
“We don’t have a comment at this time,” Postmates spokeswoman April Conyers said in an email.
Country singer Reba McEntire appeared as Col. Sanders in an ad for KFC’s Smoky Mountain chicken.
—
The popularity of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina has led to 83 registered trademarks by various companies using Smoky Mountain, the majority from those two states. The name appears on everything from boots to moonshine to beef jerky and CBD oil.
This isn’t the first time a Boise business has complained about a national company.
Two years ago, restaurant BBQ4Life sued Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, alleging the Texas-based national chain misappropriated cartoon-style words and images that Dickey’s used in its 75th anniversary campaign. BBQ4Life claimed Dickey’s even used the likeness of BBQ4Life owner Brad Taylor.
Dickey’s agreed to quit using the disputed materials. Dickey’s and BBQ4Life reached an undisclosed settlement last October.
Late last year, Edge Brewing Co. complained that beer giant Coors released a label for its Coors Edge beer that is strikingly similar to Edge’s label.
Edge Brewing sent a letter to MillerCoors noting the similarity but the company did not respond. While Edge Brewing has trademarks for its logo and brand, Coors Edge also has a trademark.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
