Hugo Boss has issued a statement over comedian Joe Lycett who changed his name in an act of support for a Welsh brewery.
On Sunday the comedian announced he had officially changed his own name to Hugo Boss as an act of solidarity with small businesses who have been approached by the company.
Boss Brewing, based in Swansea, was forced to shell out thousands of pounds defending itself after the fashion titan issued a cease and desist letter to try and stop the company using the trade name.
The German luxury fashion house said that they welcome the comedian as a member of the Hugo Boss family.
A spokesman for the company 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."
Writing on Twitter, Lycett said: "So @HUGOBOSS (who turnover approx $2.7 billion a year) have sent cease & desist letters to a number of small businesses & charities who use the word 'BOSS' or similar, including a small brewery in Swansea costing them thousands in legal fees and rebranding.
"It's clear that @HUGOBOSS HATES people using their name. Unfortunately for them 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."
In a later tweet he said he would also be "launching a brand new product as Hugo Boss" and more would be revealed on the new series of Got Your Back.
