‘6-7’ chicken nuggets? MD poultry giant Perdue sues over trademark.

The Maryland teen who popularized the “6-7” meme has partnered with a prepared food company launching a line of chicken nuggets based on the viral phenomenon. Local poultry processor Perdue Foods wants a judge to stop it.

Perdue, which began selling its own “6-7”-themed frozen chicken nuggets at Walmart stores nationwide in May, sued Texas-based John Soules Foods, Inc. in federal court last week, seeking for its competitor to be barred from selling its own line of numeric nuggets.

Soules announced its line last month with a video of Maverick Trevillian, an Anne Arundel County teen known as the “6-7 kid” because he popularized the meme and hand gesture, who said that the nuggets will be available at Kroger and ALDI stores in July. The packaging on Soules’ nuggets includes a cartoon depiction of Trevillian.

In a complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction, Salisbury-based Perdue alleged that Soules’ adoption of the “6-7” breaded nuggets has already caused it to lose customers by unfairly taking shelf space at a “major national grocery retailer” that will be carrying Soules’ nuggets instead.

The chicken giant is represented in court by a team of attorneys from Venable LLP. The poultry firm and its lead attorney did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday.

A Soules spokesperson said that the company disagrees with Perdue’s claims and had “retained counsel to defend our position.”

Perdue applied for trademarks on its “6-7” branding, which includes cartoon hands performing a gesture below the numbers, in April, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said it’s still pending.

Perdue sent Soules a cease-and-desist letter last month demanding the company discontinue its use of the meme branding. Soules “responded and stated it would not agree to cease its challenged use,” according to a declaration by Perdue’s marketing director, Cody Walter. The company’s legal filings seek to ban Soules from using “6-7” in connection with similar products.

“Perdue is not seeking to monopolize a viral phrase or the numbers 6 and 7 standing alone,” the poultry processor’s attorneys wrote in its motion to enjoin Soules from using the branding. “Perdue merely seeks to protect its source-identifying use of the Perdue 6 7 Marks and its packaging trade dress for chicken nuggets and closely related frozen poultry products, and to prevent Soules from using confusingly similar branding for directly competing goods.”

The matter in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was stayed Wednesday per an order by Senior Judge Robert E. Payne. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Lanham Act and Virginia common law for trademark infringement and unfair competition. In addition to an injunction, the complaint seeks actual damages resulting from Soules’ acts as well as all profits attributable to the Texas firm’s “6-7” marketing.

Inspired by a song by rapper Skrilla, the “6-7” meme became popular last year after being featured in basketball montages posted on TikTok and Instagram. Often accompanied by a hand gesture, the meme grew in popularity after basketball influencer Cam Wilder posted a video featuring Trevillian and others shouting the term during a Baltimore-based Amateur Athletic Union game.