Iceland Trademark Dispute Heating Up

Further to our previous story with regards to Iceland seeking to challenge the European wide trademark which Iceland Foods holds over the word 'Iceland', it appears that things are heating up over the trademark dispute.

The frozen food company is sending a delegation of senior members, including their company secretary and legal director in a bid to reach an amicable outcome to the trademark opposition launched by the country.  They are set to leave this week in order to begin to reach some form of agreement with Iceland, the country, in order to settle the dispute.

Iceland oppose the trademark and the activities of Iceland Foods who have, in their opinion, pursued the companies who have used 'Iceland' as part of it trademark in an aggressive manner. Both parties hope that they will be able to reach an agreement whereby the country and company can coexist and use the word 'Iceland' together. The country launched opposition to the retailer's trademark in order to allow its own Icelandic companies to use the word 'Iceland' when operating within the European Union, and thus define the origin of their products as coming from the Nordic country.

Iceland Frozen Foods have pointed out that for seven years from 2005 the company was itself under the control of Icelandic investors and later the Icelandic banks Landsbanki and Glitnir. The company even sponsored the Icelandic national team in the European football championships this year.   The retailer has made clear that it does not wish to block the ability of Icelandic companies to name or promote their products, provided that confusion is not caused as to which business produces the products.

The company is hoping that their delegation will deice their relationship with Iceland in order to restore the status quo which both country and company shared in the past.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.