PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A David and Goliath battle ensued around a small Plettenberg Bay restaurant after fast food chain Chicken Licken cried "fowl" about alleged trademark infringements surrounding the word "soul", used in the local restaurant's name and meals.
Just like in the Biblical event, David came out tops when the Western Cape High Court dismissed the application by Chicken Licken owners against the Plett restaurant formerly trading as East Coast Soul Kitchen.
The dismissal was based on the fact that owners of the local restaurant have renamed the restaurant to Sol Kitchen amidst the drama.
The showdown began in July 2021 when Chicken Licken's attorney, Ronald Wheeldon, became aware that the Main Street bistro-style restaurant had allegedly infringed on some of his client's trademarks.
He wrote to owner George Frost informing him of the observation and that his client sought an undertaking that it would desist from using these trademarks.
The alleged trademarks infringements included the use of "soul kitchen" in the restaurant's name and some of their food offerings.
In correspondence between parties Wheeldon said that the use of the name would likely cause confusion as members of the public "may be under the misapprehension that your goods and services are in some way connected to our client".
In response Frost's lawyer, Hardy Mills, made it clear that his client's business was not a fast food restaurant, that it traded as East Coast Soul Kitchen and that all signage held this, that the restaurant was more than 100km from the nearest Chicken Licken outlet in the Western Cape and that the logo did not resemble that of Chicken Licken.
Therefore he believed that no reasonable person would be confused or misled by the name. Frost nevertheless decided to change the name of the restaurant to Sol Kitchen to avoid unnecessary and costly litigation.
Judge Patric Gamble last week found that there was no evidence before the court to sustain any contention that the Plett restaurant was infringing on trademarks: "When the restaurant strategically changed its name to 'Sol Kitchen', the battle was effectively over. The respondent is ordered to remove, within one week of this order, the remaining references to 'East Coast Soul Kitchen' from its webpage and/or Facebook page. Save as aforesaid, the application is dismissed."
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