BHC triumphs in chicken war against BBQ

The fried chicken franchise BHC has won its seven-year legal battle against its rival, BBQ. The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision rejecting BBQ’s claim that BHC stole its trade secrets. BBQ filed for damages in 2018...

[BBQ, BHC]

The fried chicken franchise BHC has won its seven-year legal battle against its rival, BBQ.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision rejecting BBQ’s claim that BHC stole its trade secrets.

BBQ filed for damages in 2018, claiming that BHC Chairman Park Hyun-jong and other executives pilfered confidential information, harming BBQ’s business and product development.

“The court compared the prior court decisions with case records, but decided to reject the plaintiff’s appeal as it did not fall under Article 4 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning Procedure for Trial by the Supreme Court,” the court stated.

Another damage suit filed by BHC against BBQ ordered the defendant to compensate a total of 20.5 billion won ($15.56 million) to the plaintiff, BHC said Tuesday.

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision ordering BBQ to pay damages to BHC for breaching contracts the two companies signed regarding product supply, services and logistics.

The chicken war was ignited in 2013 when BBQ sold its then-affiliated company BHC to private equity fund the Rohatyn Group, formerly known as CVCI, for 113 billion won.

The two companies signed multiple contracts which BBQ canceled after selling off BHC. BHC filed for damages in 2017 and 2018.

BHC initially demanded total compensation of 294 billion won from BBQ.

“We respect the Supreme Court's clear-cut decision to acknowledge BBQ’s responsibility for damaging BHC as the former unfairly cancelled the contracts, as well as the groundless nature of BBQ’s claim that BHC took company secrets,” BHC said in a statement. “We anticipate that there will be no more controversy regarding these issues.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]