The British high street giant Iceland has issued a warning to other supermarkets over one of its popular food products.
The retailer has put in an application to trademark its cherished party staple and has even issued a cheeky message to other major supermarkets, telling them to back off their legendary product.
In an open letter, Iceland addressed rivals – including Tesco, Aldi, and Asda – urging them not to try and pull off a seafood scam with copycat king prawn rings during the festive season.
Championing its signature dish, Iceland’s executive chairman Richard Walker said: “When it comes to the King Prawn Ring, Iceland are the OGs. From the idea to the name and the shape, we believe it’s our own iconic product that has been a staple of our Christmas range for the past 30 years.”
He added that Iceland have “had enough of pretenders” and wants the supermarket’s signature dish to be the only available at Christmas.
“We’ve had enough of the pretenders and we’re now taking action. We’ve applied for a trademark and design application, and we expect our King Prawn Ring to be the only one on the shelves this Christmas,” he added.
Iceland has decided it’s time to protect the prawn ring legally by submitting for a trademark on both the ‘King Prawn Ring’ name and the very design itself. Should these trademarks get the green light, it should kick into effect just in time to deck the Christmas dinner tables, reports the Mirror.
Should the trademark bid pass, Iceland could send rival retailers into choppy waters if they dare to include a King Prawn Ring lookalike in their Christmas lineup.
“Dear all other supermarkets,” the open letter begins. “In 1991, we first launched the iconic King Prawn Ring within our stores. Let’s be honest, it was a shellfishly brilliant idea, but since then, we’ve seen more than a few copy-crustaceans crawling out of the pond.
“Aldi, Tesco, Lidl, Asda, we’re looking at you. You might think you’re pretty shrimpressive with your imitation offerings, but let’s get reel: there’s only one original, and that’s us.”
“Over 30 years down the line and we’ve finally had enough of your fishy behaviour.”
“We have applied to His Majesty’s Government for a trademark on the word, ‘King Prawn Ring’, as well as registering the iconic King Prawn Ring design with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and therefore we are writing this letter as a warning to all supermarkets.”
They added: “We are today asking you to remove your pretender King Prawn Rings from sale and to not include them in any of your impending Christmas ranges.
“Doing so will ensure you don’t have any action taken against you should our applications be granted. Our lawyers are more than ready to dive into legal waters, and trust us, they’re well-armed to claw back what’s rightfully ours.
“We don’t want to have to scale things up, but if you continue to flounder in your ways, we’ll have no choice but to reel you in.”
“Regards, Iceland Foods””.