Kale slogan prevails in battle with Chick-fil-A

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A folk artist who became a folk hero to some after picking a fight with fast-food giant Chick-fil-A over use of the phrase "eat more kale" -- similar to their trademarked "eat mor chikin" -- has won his legal battle.

Bo Muller-Moore thanked his supporters yesterday and said outside the Vermont Statehouse that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted his application to trademark "eat more kale," a phrase he says promotes local agriculture. He silk-screens the phrase on T-shirts and sweatshirts and prints it on bumper stickers in Vermont and beyond.

Chick-fil-A uses the phrase in images that include cows holding signs with the misspelled phrase "eat mor chikin" because, as Chick-fil-A spokeswoman Carrie Kurlander put it, "when people eat chicken, they do not eat cows."

In the summer of 2011, Muller-Moore sought to trademark his phrase. A short time later Chick-fil-A sent Muller-Moore a letter telling him to stop using the phrase because the company felt it could be confused with "eat mor chikin."

-- AP