ACTOR Paul Hogan is taking a popular Aussie burger chain to court after it ripped off one of his most famous lines.

The Crocodile Dundee star, 78, is taking action against Grill’d after the chain used a variation on the line “That’s not a knife, that’s a knife” in their restaurants.

The phrase was made famous in Hogan’s 1986 hit, and Grill’d has the line printed on its cutlery packaging attributing it to the film’s protagonist, Mick Dundee.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Hogan claimed the restaurant had “made a false or misleading representation that the use of the quote is endorsed by him or by his company, Rimfire Films”.

Hogan also alleges Grill’d has committed a “flagrant” breach of copyright law.

The actor, who was born in Lightning Ridge in NSW, claims Grill’d has refused to enter an understanding to stop using the cutlery sleeves which display the quote.

In a statement of claim filed last week, Hogan said: “The respondent threatens to continue to engage in the conduct complained of in this statement of claim, with the result that the applicants are likely to suffer further loss and damage, unless the respondent is restrained.”

Hogan’s lawyer Andrew Robinson explained the legal action to 2GB’s Ross Greenwood yesterday.

“We asked the Grill’d group to stop using the phrase and they refused,” he said.

“Someone within Grill’d must’ve said it is for our personal advantage to use that quote, which I should say is actually a misquote.

“But then to attribute it to Paul’s alternate personality … what’s the association?”

Hogan, who now lives in California, first shot to fame in 1973 with The Paul Hogan Show.

He became a global name following the success of the Crocodile Dundee trilogy, and he’s also starred in Aussie hits including Strange Bedfellows and Charlie & Boots.

He has five children with his first wife, Noelene Edwards, who he married in 1958 before divorcing in 1981 and remarrying less than a year later.

The couple went through a messy divorce in 1986, and Hogan married his second wife and Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski in 1990.

The pair had one child together before divorcing in 2013.

Hogan, who was named Australian of the Year in 1985, has also made headlines in recent years over a long running tax dispute with the Australian Taxation Office.