Joe Lycett’s decision to change his name to Hugo Boss has been welcomed by the fashion label.
The 31-year-old comedian recently decided to legally change his name by deed poll in response to Hugo Boss’ decision to take legal action against small businesses and charities – including a Welsh craft brewery – using "boss" in their names.
In a statement, the fashion label responded: "We welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett as a member of the Hugo Boss family."
The company then explained the specifics of its trademark claims.
The statement continued: "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."
Meanwhile, Joe recently discussed his name change on social media.
He wrote on Twitter: "So Hugo Boss (who turnover approx $2.7bn 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 Hugo Boss 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 Hugo Boss. Enjoy. (sic)"
Hugo Boss welcomes Joe Lycett’s name change
