Comedian Joe Lycett changes name to Hugo Boss to support Welsh brewery after legal fight

Wales
Swansea
Hugo Boss
Wales
Monday 2 March 2020 at 11:05am

A well-known comedian has legally changed his name to Hugo Boss in protest against the designer fashion brand.

Joe Lycett announced on Twitter that he had changed his name by deed poll in an act of solidarity after the brand was involved in a legal battle with a Welsh brewery last year.

Boss Brewing had to pay nearly £10,000 in legal fees after they attempted to trademark their businesses name. It is a procedure which should usually cost around £300 but resulted in a four month legal battle with the fashion chain.

The award-winning brewery Boss Brewing is based in Swansea

The brewery, based in Swansea, had to change the names of two award-winning beers and could not sell clothing anymore.

At the time, a spokesperson for Hugo Boss said the company wanted to avoid misunderstanding with brands which are their longstanding trademarks.

In a series of tweets explaining the name change, the comedian said: "unfortunately for [Hugo Boss] this week I legally changed my name by deed poll and I am now officially known as Hugo Boss. All future statements from me are not from Joe Lycett but from Hugo Boss. Enjoy."

Hugo Boss had issued a cease and desist letter to the brewery

Joe Lycett changed his name with the Welsh business as part of his consumer comedy show on Channel 4, which says it "fights for the rights of the Great British consumer".

He also announced he will soon be selling a new product under the name of Hugo Boss.

Boss Brewing retweeted the message sent by Hugo Boss (formerly Joe Lycett) and praised him for "the most brilliant show of support."

A spokesperson for Hugo Boss said: "We welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett as a member of the HUGO BOSS family."

As he will know, as a “well-known” trademark (as opposed to a “regular” trademark) HUGO BOSS enjoys increased protection not only against trademarks for similar goods, but also for dissimilar goods across all product categories for our brands and trademarks BOSS and BOSS Black and their associated visual appearance. Following the application by Boss Brewing to register a trademark similar to our “well-known” trademark, we approached them to prevent potential misunderstanding regarding the brands BOSS and BOSS Black, which were being used to market beer and items of clothing. Both parties worked constructively to find a solution, which allows Boss Brewing the continued use of its name and all of its products, other than two beers (BOSS BLACK and BOSS BOSS) where a slight change of the name was agreed upon. As an open-minded company we would like to clarify that we do not oppose the free use of language in any way and we accept the generic term "boss" and its various and frequent uses in different languages.