The mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson says he will oppose moves by Liverpool Football Club to trademark the city’s name.
The European champions came under criticism earlier this summer as they revealed plans to trademark the word ‘Liverpool’ in an effort to protect the club’s merchandise from large scale counterfeiting.
Chief executive Peter Moore underlined that the context of the application was very important. He stressed: “The club is NOT and would never seek a monopoly over the word ‘Liverpool’ across the board. We understand the roots of this great city and the importance of amateur football clubs.
“We are under attack from large scale manufacturing. We must protect the global revenues to reinvest in players and infrastructure.”
The club have since been at pains to talk to local businesses about their idea.
However, Mayor Anderson, a staunch Everton fan, took to Twitter to announce: “I have informed Liverpool FC that I and Liverpool City Council will oppose their attempt to trademark the name Liverpool. I do not believe you can trademark a city name. I value our relationship with LFC and we will work to help remove counterfeit goods, but we will also protect local traders and our brand.”
The move is not unprecedented. Indeed, Everton are among the clubs to have trademarked their own name as have Chelsea and Southampton. Yet the main objections to Liverpool’s branding centre on the fact it is the name of a city as opposed to a district.
Liverpool have trademarked ‘Six Times’ and attempted to trademark ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’ in relation to the terrace chant last year but later withdrew the application.
