JCS Fish, a Grimsby-based fish wholesaler, has taken legal action against Morrisons – the national supermarket brand – due to its attempts to register “The Big Fish Company” as a trademark.
While JCS Fish has annual sales of £6 million, and Morrisons recently recorded £16.8 billion in sales, the former company registered its BigFish brand in 2010, years before Morrisons submitted its application to register “The Big Fish Company” in July 2015.
As a result of the similarities between its existing trademark and the one that Morrisons attempted to register, the family-owned Grimsby business has formally opposed the move with the Government’s Intellectual Property Office.
JCS Fish’s managing director, Andrew Coulbeck, said: “We have been in touch with Morrisons and its legal team and they have said that they don’t consider the two marks to be similar.
“They haven’t withdrawn their trademark applications and are still selling the products.
“We are a small family firm and have worked hard over the past six years to build up our BigFish brand, including investing some £700,000 this year in our factory. Together with our marketing efforts, this has helped fuel brand growth of around 10% in the past 12 months.
“We strongly believe the existence of another very similar brand in the fish category is a direct threat to the future success of our own business and have no option but to oppose these trademarks with all the means at our disposal.”
The case against Morrisons’s trademark application is still being considered, but a decision is expected in the near future.