Why Raising Cane's Once Got In A Legal Battle With Bob Marley's Estate

Every so often, there seem to be a fast food menu item that upsets customers: Burger King's bacon sundae, Subway's 11-inch foot-long sandwich, and so on. However, it's not always the menu that creates a stir. In December 2013, a lawsuit was filed against the fast food chicken restaurant chain, Raising Cane's, by 56 Hope Road Music, a company owned by the family of iconic Jamaican singer Bob Marley. The lawsuit came after Marley's estate learned that Raising Cane's had trademarked the phrase "One Love" in 2005 after using it in advertising and on its menus since 2001. The chicken restaurant's trademark blocked the Marley estate from trademarking the phrase "Marley One Love."

"One Love" was the title of a hit song on Marley's 1977 album, "Exodus"; since its release, the phrase has become synonymous with Marley's legacy. The lawsuit filed against Raising Cane's included trademark infringement, false association, trademark dilution, and intentional interference with advantageous business relations, among other allegations. But according to Raising Cane's CEO, Todd Graves, the chain's use of the phrase was always just about chicken. "We serve one thing — quality chicken finger meals — and strive to do it better than anyone else. It's our ONE LOVE," he stated on the Raising Cane's website. So what was the outcome when the estate of a music legend and the home of top-ranked fast food chicken tenders both want to use the same well-known phrase?

Ultimately, 56 Hope Road Music and Raising Cane's reached a settlement on May 13, 2014. Though neither party disclosed the terms of the case publicly,  Raising Cane's still uses the phrase "One Love" in its branding and on merchandise. Bob Marley's estate has used "Marley One Love" on merchandise since 1991, and in 1999, branched out to use it in restaurants like the One Love Cafe in Jamaica.

The Marley estate's clash with Raising Cane's isn't the first such lawsuit. In 2005, the estate of the late Grateful Dead guitarist, Jerry Garcia, sued an Atlanta, Georgia, burrito chain, alleging that the restaurant was using Garcia's image to sell tacos. Whether intentional, unknowingly, or meant as a tribute of sorts to various musical icons, it's clear that many estates are willing to go to bat over how musicians and their legacies are portrayed even after death. Music fans everywhere will likely always associate "One Love" with Marley's music. And while some employees think that Raising Cane's has a food waste problem, the restaurant chain still uses "One Love" to sell its chicken.