Nando’s has asked an independent chicken shop to change its name and logo, accusing it of too many similarities with the restaurant chain’s trademarked branding.

Fernando’s, based in Reading, received a legal letter claiming that the shop’s name and logo was an infringement of Nando’s intellectual property rights.

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”.

(Katie Collins/PA)(Katie Collins/PA)

Nando’s also claimed that the Fernando’s name is too similar to its own.

News platform In Your Area reported that Fernando’s director Asam Aziz felt he was being bullied into changing his company’s name.

Mr Aziz, who opened his shop seven months ago, reportedly claimed that he got the idea for the restaurant’s name from dating show Take Me Out, where couples take a trip to the island of Fernando’s, a fictitious name for the town of Puerto de la Cruz, which sits on the northern coast of Tenerife.

He said: “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.”

A Nando’s spokesman 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.

“We have asked this restaurant to re-brand because we believe it is trying to benefit from some of the things that make us who we are – our menu, logo and even our name.”