Ramsay in ice cream war
August 31, 2004
Adam Lechmere, and agencies
Gordon Ramsay, one of the UK's most controversial restaurateurs, has been threatened with legal action by Unilever over an ice cream name.
The chef – who has three Michelin stars to his name, runs several high-profile restaurants in London, and has also starred in numerous TV series – was warned by the multinational that ice creams on the menu at the Boxwood Café in London's Knightsbridge were breaching a registered trade mark.
The ice creams in question are a trio of homemade mini cornettos, on the menu for £6. Unilever claims this threatens the distinctiveness of the Cornetto ice cream, made by its subsidiary Wall's.
An official letter from the company's lawyers said, 'Your application of the Cornetto mark to goods for which our trademarks are registered…is likely to damage the distinctiveness of our Cornetto mark and put our registrations at risk.'
The company said it would not take legal action and sue for damages as long as Ramsay stopped selling the product immediately.
Ramsay said, 'If anything we are improving the image of the Cornetto by giving it a new twist.'
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