The Greater London Authority has threatened to take legal action for trademark infringement if the BNP continues to distribute newsletters under the name ‘The Londoner’.
Since 2002 the Mayor of London has distributed a monthly newspaper under the same name which has also been registered as a trademark with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.
A legal letter to the British National Party accuses the party of “intentionally trading on the goodwill of the GLA in the trademark of ‘The Londoner’ by using a trademark which is confusingly similar to ‘The Londoner’ and that the use of the trademark, does, or is intended to, confuse or mislead members of the public.”
The letter demands that the British National Party cease and desist from using the trademark and remove from circulation any publication using ‘The Londoner’.
The Mayor Ken Livingstone said: “The Londoner has been published for eight years and is a well-known newspaper across the capital. It is a disgrace that the BNP has deliberately chosen to trade on our good name by calling its outrageous propaganda The Londoner.”
“Londoners should be clear that there is absolutely no link between the newspaper they receive each month and this offensive British National Party leaflet.”
chris says
February 2, 2008 at 2:36 pmyou dont own the word Londoner, have you copyright on this word, you may have a case if the BNP were using your logo etc, but other than that it an empty threat.