KFC is taking one of its smaller rivals to court, suing Church's Texas Chicken for allegedly violating its trademark rights by using the phrase "Original Recipe" in pitching its fried poultry products.

In a lawsuit filed Nov. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, KFC has accused fellow fast-food fried chicken purveyor Church's Texas Chicken of violating its trademark rights by using the phrase "Original Recipe" in its advertisements and promotions.

Church's Chicken has recently begun advertising some new chicken, bragging about the fact that they've gone back to the "original recipe." This is famously what KFC calls its fried chicken, in reference to Harland Sanders' original recipe.

KFC has sued Church's Texas Chicken, accusing the rival fast-food chain of violating its trademark rights in the phrase "Original Recipe."

The San Antonio-born brand has been celebrating the return of its "legendary original recipe" in recent marketing.

KFC has slapped Church’s Texas Chicken with a lawsuit, initiating the begining of what could turn into a fiery, and finger-lickin’ legal showdown. According to a report from S

On behalf of all fried chicken lovers out there, we take it personally when another company tries to claim our iconic taste and branding as their own.'

KFC issued a letter Oct. 24 calling out Church's for its use of the two words, but the competitor didn't relent. The promotions in question, shared even after the letter was published, featured Church's fried chicken deals and text that read "Our original recipe is back."

Last week, KFC accused Church’s Texas Chicken of violating its trademark rights when its fried chicken competitor began using the words “Original Recipe” in its advertising and promotions. KFC claimed in a lawsuit that beginning September 30,

KFC claims that Church's use of the phrase "original recipe" in its own advertisements "is likely to create confusion in the marketplace.