A historic piece of property that once belonged to the famous Col. Harland Sanders and his wife Claudia is now for sale but prospective buyers might face an uphill battle with KFC's parent company, reports say.
The Claudia Sanders Dinner House, a gorgeous 63-year-old eatery in Shelbyville, KY, has been put up for sale since June this year, but KFC's parent company YUM! Brands isn't so happy about it, the New York Post reported.
Col. Sanders opened the Claudia Sanders Dinner House for his wife in 1959, just 10 years after they got married. The 3-acre property where the Dinner House stands also includes their private residence called the Blackwood Hall, a 5,000-square-foot home. This is where the colonel lived before passing away in 1980.
The property had been managed by Tommy and Cherry Settle since the 1970s. Cherry was a hostess in the Dinner House when she and her husband Tommy, a ham supplier, bought the restaurant from the Sanders.
The Settles, currently living in Blackwood Hall, continue running the Dinner House but are looking to retire. Per the NY Post, their bid to sell the historic 3-acre property caught the attention of YUM! Brands due to the potential rise of a rival brand carrying the Sanders name.
The company's legal team submitted a filing, seeking to reinforce protections for KFC's trademarks, to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office just days after the property was put up by Six Degrees Real Estate, hired to sell it, for sale.
These trademarks include "Colonel Sanders' Original Recipe," "Col. Harland Sanders," and the renowned tagline "It's Finger Lickin' Good," among others.
This current situation seriously affects the potential sale of the property, as well as the freedom the would-be owners will have with regards to the restaurant and its name once they successfully purchase it.
"It's a very unique situation," Jonathan Klunk of Six Degrees told the NY Post.
"We are selling Claudia and she doesn't have as much name recognition as her husband, but a buyer can't describe her without mentioning both her husband and KFC," he explained.
Klunk noted that while there are many similarities between the Claudia Sanders Dinner House and KFC's menu items, the former's offerings have "no connection to the KFC recipe."
The Settles previously had a legal tussle with YUM! Brands when Tommy found datebook belonging to Col. Sanders and containing a list of 11 herbs and spices. The Settles wanted to authenticate the said recipe so they can sell it, but YUM! prevented them from doing so using a lawsuit until they could verify its authenticity.
The lawsuit was dropped after YUM! said the recipe was not even close to the original recipe KFC is known to keep as a secret.
The Settles are selling the historic piece of property, which includes the two buildings as well as intellectual property among other things, for $9 million.
