Restaurant owner's china crisis (...over name dispute with Wedgwood)

Published on Friday 18 April 2008 22:15

WHEN Paul Wedgwood opened his restaurant on Edinburgh's Royal Mile last year, he was proud to use his surname above the door.

Naming his business after himself – as many others had done before him – seemed a logical thing to do. But he has now found himself in hot water with the plush ceramics firm of the same name which claims he has infringed its copyright.

Mr Wedgwood has received a letter from Wedgwood Ltd ordering him to change the type font on his sign which, it said, matched its own, and remove photographs of any ceramics from menus.

The firm also demanded the restaurant stop using the Wedgwood trademark pale blue colour on its website and that the eatery, which serves traditional Scottish cuisine, change its name to "Paul Wedgwood".

The restaurant owner, who fears an expensive legal battle could force his business to close, said: "I'm disgusted with them. They said we are not a quality product, but I think everyone who comes here to eat would say otherwise.

"They talk about the word compromise, but they have offered none. It is a David versus Goliath struggle."

Although Wedgwood Ltd is primarily known for fine china, it insists it is also well known for running tearooms in the UK and abroad and is associated with cookery competitions.

Mr Wedgwood is refusing to bow to the demands of his name- sake firm. He said: "We have done everything we can to disassociate ourselves with them. And some of their demands were simply crazy. We use a volcanic red on our website, not blue.

"All the ceramics we use are clearly branded Steelite, Wedgwood's main competitors, and the same goes for all cutlery and glasses used in the restaurant."

Andrew Straistreet, Wedgwood Group communications executive, said his company was renowned for its high standards, and it had no control of the standards of the restaurant.

"This is certainly not David versus Goliath," he added. "We have written to the restaurant on countless occasions asking them to change their fonts and to stop using our blue colour trademark. We have had correspondence from tourists who have gone into their restaurant on the misapprehension that it was a Wedgwood store.

"We have restaurants in Japan and have also run catering competitions in the past so there is a clear case of confusion."

The disagreement began after a restaurant review in a national newspaper last August inadvertently associated the restaurant with Wedgwood Ltd.

Charlotte Waelde, an intellectual property expert at Edinburgh University, said Wedgwood Ltd's case was unlikely to be successful.

"If your company is particularly well-known, for example Rolls-Royce, the trademark protection can go beyond the company's specialist area. I think in this instance that can't be said to be true. Sticking my finger up and testing the wind, I would say Wedgwood is unlikely to be successful."

Mr Wedgwood, the restaurant owner, said he was confident of winning the fight.