Nando's accused of bullying independent Reading chicken eatery, Fernando’s

Nando’s has been accused of “bullying” an independent chicken shop called Fernando’s into changing its name, logo and menu.

The chicken giant has launched legal action, accusing the eatery in Reading, which has been open for six months, of copying its name and images.

Fernando’s received a legal letter claiming that “the shop’s name and logo was an infringement of Nando’s intellectual property rights”, says The Independent.

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The letter claimed that cockerel and chilli images that Fernando’s uses on its menus and in store are “highly similar” to the Nando’s-owned trademarks “Barcelos Cockerel” and “Peri-ometer”.

But the Berkshire eatery's director Asam Aziz said that the ITV television show Take Me Out was the real inspiration for the name.

“They are bullying me. It’s such a worry. I’m just an independent business owner,” he told the BBC.

He went on: “Why have they [Nando's] left it until now to contact me with this. Why not do it right at the start?

“I think they’re threatened by me and my menu. I believe they are just trying to bully me because my chicken is better than theirs!”

Aziz told Get Reading that he was going to have a meeting with the chicken chain next week to attempt to solve the issue.

“The worst case scenario is I'll have to give up the rights to Fernando’s, I'll have to give up the rights to the chicken and I'll have to give up rights to the chilli and start re-branding from the beginning, so I'll have to have a new name, new rights and everything,” he said.

“Our recipe won't be affected, but everything else will be.”

A Nando’s spokesperson said: “We are really proud of our brand and we know it means a lot to our customers. That’s why whenever we think there is trademark infringement we try to sort it out amicably.”