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18 November 2019TrademarksRory O'Neill

UK election candidate criticises Tayto brand over TM action

A candidate for the UK parliament is boycotting the Northern Ireland-based Tayto crisps brand over a trademark dispute.

Alliance Party candidate for the UK parliament Patrick Brown criticised the crisps manufacturer for its “campaign” against a county Down businessman who sold an Irish product of the same name north of the border.

Tayto was established in the 1950s and originally licensed its brand and recipes from an Irish company of the same name.

Each company, Ireland-based  Tayto Crisps and Northern Ireland’s  Tayto Limited, own exclusive rights to use the name in their respective jurisdictions.

While the companies use similar branding, including a yellow mascot known as ‘Mr. Tayto’, the products can be differentiated by the colour of the packaging.

Northern Ireland’s Tayto recently opened court proceedings against a sole trader for selling the southern version of the crisps to pubs and shops north of the border.

The Belfast High Court has ruled that the businessman, Mark Ferris, infringed Tayto’s trademark.

Ferris claims he only earned £500 ($647) profit from the endeavour.

The  Irish News website reported that Brown, who is a councillor for Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, had encouraged the public to consider boycotting the Northern Ireland company over its “campaign against a small local business”.

Brown later clarified to the  Belfast Telegraph that his boycott of the brand was a personal position, and that he was not “calling on others to join him”.

“I'm doing it to show solidarity with and represent my constituent, if other people choose to boycott then that is their decision," Brown told the newspaper.

According to the paper, lawyers for Ferris told the Belfast High Court that Tayto was “using a very large sledgehammer to crack a very small nut" by pursuing action against the trader.

The Northern Ireland company has maintained that the case is about protecting the integrity of its trademark.

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