MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) 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. <br />
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Bo Muller-Moore thanked his supporters Friday 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 that are common in Vermont and beyond. <br />
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When asked Thursday what he felt caused the trademark office to approve his application, Muller-Moore, of Montpelier, said, ``Your guess is as good as mine.'' The news was posted on the office's website Tuesday. <br />
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``I'd like to think that maybe some persistence and polite defiance, you know, and proving to them that we were in it for the long haul,'' he said. ``If it took us a decade, we're going to fight for a decade.'' <br />
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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.'' <br />
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Her response to the kale decision: ``Cows love kale, too.'' <br />
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Muller-Moore started using the phrase in 2001 after a farmer friend who grows the leafy vegetable that is known for its nutritional value asked him to make three T-shirts for his family for $10 each. <br />
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The phrase caught on and, with the approval of the farmer, Muller-Moore began putting it on clothing and bumper stickers. <br />
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In the summer of 2011, Muller-Moore sought to trademark the phrase. It was a short time later that 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.'' In the letter, Chick-fil-A cited 30 examples of others who had tried to use the ``eat more'' phrase and withdrew it after the company objected. <br />
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But Muller-Moore refused. <br />
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``In our case, we said we're not going to cease and desist until a federal judge tells us to and as far as the trademark goes, I never wavered from the idea that I deserved protection from copycat artists,'' Muller-Moore said. <br />
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His public fight drew the support of Shumlin and a team of pro-bono lawyers, including law students from the University of New Hampshire legal clinic. <br />
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``The message is out: Don't mess with Vermont. And don't mess with Bo,'' Shumlin said in a statement. ``This isn't just a win for the little guy who stands up to a corporate bully; it's a win for our state. In Vermont, we care about what's in our food, who grows it, and where it comes from.''
