Iceland is suing Iceland over being called Iceland in eight-year legal battle

Iceland Foods has just launched a fresh appeal in a legal battle that's been going on for eight years with the country, Iceland.

The British supermarket chain, Iceland Foods, has this month started a fresh appeal at the General Court of The European Union in Luxembourg.

Iceland Foods has just launched a fresh appeal (Getty Stock Photo)

The supermarket is appealing against a decision made in 2022, which upheld a 2019 ruling in which the chain lost its EU trademark protection.

The new appeal is the latest development in an eight-year legal battle with the country, who first challenged the supermarket in 2016 after claiming it tried to stop businesses in Iceland from using the name while marketing products.

"It would mean that Icelandic companies could possibly not use the word Iceland in their trademarks to designate the products they’re selling," Margrét Hjálmarsdóttir, an attorney at the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office, said in 2022.

The ruling two years ago would not stop the retailer selling its products in the EU, but it would mean the supermarket could not stop other producers from also using the name Iceland.

An appeal has been launched at the General Court of The European Union in Luxembourg (Getty Stock Photo)

On October 16, executive chairman Richard Walker appeared at the General Court of The European Union in Luxembourg.

According to The Grocer, the fresh appeal is the third round of proceedings and the retailer would have one last shot at an appeal if it were to also lose the current one.

Commenting on LinkedIn, Walker said: “It’s a fun headline and a seemingly quirky case…but for me personally and our family business it’s a really important issue.

“We have always understood our name to depict ‘land of Ice’ rather than making any reference or insinuation to Iceland as a country.

“And we of course will protect our business and identity – but have never tried to stop Icelandic businesses from using ‘Iceland’ descriptively to promote their products."

The supermarket is known for its frozen foods (Getty Stock Photo)

Back in 2022, Walker told Metro.co.uk: "Our business is family-owned and was named 'Iceland' Foods by my mother, the late Lady Walker.

"We have traded successfully under our name in the UK since 1970, and today it is one of the UK’s most recognized brands. We have traded as Iceland in a large number of EU countries and in non-EU countries, including Iceland itself.

"We had sincerely hoped that we would be able to avoid last week’s hearing and reach an amicable agreement.

"While we will vigorously defend Iceland Foods’ intellectual property rights where there is any risk of confusion between our business and those of another business, this would not restrict Icelandic producers from describing goods or services as coming from Iceland."

Meanwhile, after Iceland won the ruling in 2019, foreign minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson said: "I celebrate this result, although it in no way comes as a surprise to me, as it goes against common sense that a foreign company could file exclusive rights on the name of a sovereign country.

"This is a significant victory which means a great deal to Icelandic exporting companies."

It's expected the legal battle could continue for years.

UNILAD has reached out to Iceland Foods for comment.

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