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Iceland takes legal action against British supermarket chain Iceland Foods

Xinhua, November 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iceland said on Thursday it has taken legal action against British supermarket chain Iceland Foods with the goal of ensuring the right of Icelandic companies to use the country's name.

The action is taken "because Iceland Foods has aggressively pursued and won multiple cases against Icelandic companies which use 'ICELAND' in their representation or as part of their trademark, even in cases when the products and services do not compete," Iceland's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A Europe-wide trademark registration for the word "Iceland" is held by Iceland Foods, and the Icelandic government's legal challenge at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EU-IPO) seeks to invalidate this exclusive registration, the ministry said.

The term "Iceland" is exceptionally broad and ambiguous in definition, often rendering the country's firms unable to describe their products as Icelandic, it said.

Over the past years Iceland has made multiple efforts to negotiate with Iceland Foods with the hope of reaching a fair solution and avoiding legal action, the ministry said.

"These conciliatory efforts have unfortunately been met with unrealistic and unacceptable demands by the supermarket chain, leaving Iceland with no choice but to proceed with a legal resolution to the situation," it said. Endit