Shoreditch bar in legal battle with Jaguar Cars

Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes, Kingsland Road

A popular Shoreditch bar could be forced to change its name if a legal challenge from luxury car manufacturer Jaguar succeeds.

Jaguar Shoes on Kingsland Road has been locked in the trade mark dispute for two years and the owners face a final ruling from the patent office on 6 June, unless they can reach a compromise with the giant car firm.

Brother and sister Nick and Teresa Letchford opened the bar and gallery in 2001 and it has grown into one of East London’s most famous venues, known for its strong links with the local art, fashion and design scenes.

Jaguar’s objection to the bar’s name was lodged after the owners tried to protect the Jaguar Shoes brand by registering it as a trademark.

An online petition set up in support of the bar has so far received over 1,000 signatures from people who say that they have never experienced any confusion between Jaguar Shoes and the brand of car.

Nick Letchford said: “All our regular customers are up in arms about it. They’re shocked and upset because it just seems a bit trivial. There has not been one incident in 12 years of anyone confusing us with Jaguar cars.”

The bar, which incorporates a restaurant, gallery and artists’ collective, takes its name from the vintage shop front that Nick & Teresa decided to keep when they renovated the premises.

Over the years the venue has become synonymous with trendy East London and celebrities including Amy Winehouse, Alexa Chung and Kirsten Dunst have been spotted there.

It was recently featured in an Adidas advert for the 2012 Olympics that aims to encourage creativity in British youth and Nick says he hopes Jaguar, which is itself invested in supporting creativity through its sponsorship of the Clerkenwell Design Week, will recognise the unique value of the Jaguar Shoes brand.

“We just hope that Jaguar will see sense and we can come to an agreement that both sides are comfortable with, and we can both have our brands and co-exist,” he said.

He remains hopeful of an amicable resolution to the dispute and does not want to consider what might happen if the patent office rules in favour of Jaguar.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We don’t really want to think about the worst-case scenario. The best-case scenario is reaching some kind of reasonable compromise with Jaguar,” he said.

A spokesperson for Jaguar said the company did not comment on ongoing legal matters.

For the petition in support of Jaguar Shoes go here.

Jaguar Shoes interior