The case filed by China's biggest restaurant operator comes as the government intensifies a campaign to clean up rumours on social media.
Internet marketers have been convicted of trying to manipulate online sentiment on behalf of clients by posting false information about competitors or deleting critical posts.
In an announcement posted on its Chinese website, KFC said one of the best-known fake rumours was that chickens used by the company are genetically modified and have six wings and eight legs.
Shanghai Xuhui District People's Court has accepted the case, according to a press officer who would only give her surname, Wu.
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KFC's China CEO Qu Cuirong said in a statement that it was hard for companies to protect their brands against rumours because of the difficulties in collecting evidence.
"But the stepped-up efforts by the government in recent years to purify the online environment, as well as some judicial interpretations, have offered us confidence and weapons," she said.
Authorities launched a renewed campaign two years ago to clean up what they called online rumours, negativity and unruliness. Critics say the campaign was largely aimed at suppressing criticism of the ruling Communist Party. Commentaries in state media have argued that a cleanup was needed.
KFC has more than 4,600 restaurants in China.