A Welsh clothing brand has been told it can't print the word 'Snowdonia' on any of its designs because an English firm owns the trademark for it.
Eryri Clothing has been forced to shut down after recently receiving a legal letter from Manchester-based fashion chain JD Williams, which describes itself as "the UK's leading direct home shopping company".
The notice explained that JD Williams has held the trademark for the Snowdonia name on clothing, footwear, and headgear products since having its application approved by the European Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in 2013, which was then automatically transferred to the UK IPO after Brexit, NorthWalesLive reports.
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Voicing its frustration on social media Eryri Clothing, which makes "sustainable and ethical clothing for the environmentally conscious", posted a statement which read: "Unfortunately we were sent a cease and desist order by JD Williams for using the word 'Snowdonia' on our clothing.
"As we do not have the resources to fight one of the biggest law firms in the world we were forced to sign.
"JD Williams trademarked the name of the mountain range to use on their products sold on websites such as Jacamo and SimplyBe."
Previously known as Snowdonia Eco Friendly Clothing, the firm relaunched as Eryri Clothing in an bid to get around the problem with Eryri being Welsh for Snowdonia.
But it was then told by the IPO that it wouldn't be able to trademark its new name either as "many people will perceive the term to be interchangeable with the geographical area of Snowdonia".
Eyri Clothing's statement added: "So an English company can trademark Snowdonia and close down a small Welsh business but a small Welsh business can’t trademark Eryri for clothing purposes only?"
The business, which operated out of Snowdonia, went on to thank its supporters and customers. "We still love seeing people in the area wearing our shirts and you can consider them vintage contraband now. It's goodbye for now but hopefully not forever."
Eryri Clothing has also since disabled its Instagram account after becoming aware that JD WiIliams' social media pages were being targeted over the issue with "content which did not represent our values".
However the Intellectual Property Office said no final decision had been made on 'Eryri' and the process was still ongoing, adding they could not comment further while the case was active.
JD Williams has been contacted for comment.
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