Bob Marley estate sues Raising Cane's over 'One Love' phrase

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - According to Spin magazine, Bob Marley's estate is suing Raising Cane's for adopting the phrase "One Love" as its trademark.

The lawsuit was filed December 6 in Massachusetts. Bob Marley's estate is run by Robert Nesta Marley's children and widow.

Raising Cane's is a restaurant headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with locations in seven states.

Cane's has been using the "One Love" since late 2001 on menus, merchandise, and other promotional materials. According to the article, Cane's registered the use of the phrase years ago.

According to Raising Cane's CEO and Founder Todd Graves, Raising Cane's Chicken chain had trademarked the words "One Love" in conjunction with its fried chicken menu in 2005.

Because of the Raising Cane's campaign, the estate says the US Patent and Trademark Office actually denied its request to trademark "Marley One Love" by the Marley estate.

The Marley's say that Cane's registered the use of the phrase without consulting them and that the move to hijack the words was "willful and deliberate."

The suit cites trademark infringement, false association, and trademark dilution, cancellation of the trademark registrations, common law trademark infringement, and intentional interference with advantageous business relations.

The Marley estate has requested possible damages, plus attorney's fees, and whatever profits the chain has made using the name.

Founder and CEO of Raising Cane's Chicken released the following statement about the lawsuit:

Raising Cane's is a focused-menu restaurant concept serving customers quality chicken finger meals quickly and conveniently. Raising Cane's has used the ONE LOVE® mark in the Restaurant Services classification since as early as 2001 without conflict. We serve one thing -- quality chicken finger meals -- and strive to do it better than anyone else. It's our ONE LOVE.

Raising Cane's obtained a federal Trademark Registration for our ONE LOVE mark for use in the Restaurant Services classification from the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2005.

Raising Cane's denies the Marleys' allegations and will continue to defend our rights as we have done with the Marleys in related proceedings concerning the ONE LOVE mark before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board since 2010. I met with Cedella Marley in a good faith attempt to reach a resolution regarding the Marleys desire to enter the restaurant space. Negotiations continued beyond that meeting with the Marleys ultimately rejecting Raising Cane's last offer for settlement. Raising Cane's looks forward to proving our position in court, putting this matter behind us and continuing to pursue our ONE LOVE - serving our communities our quality chicken finger meals.

Todd Graves

Founder, CEO, Fry Cook and Cashier

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers