[1] Iceland Foods is a British supermarket chain founded in 1970 by Malcolm Walker and Peter Hinchcliffe in Oswestry, Shropshire, England.
[5] After considering legal action in September 2016,[6] in November 2016, the Icelandic government filed a legal challenge at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to have the company's trademark invalidated "on the basis that the term 'Iceland' is exceptionally broad and ambiguous in definition, often rendering the country's firms unable to describe their products as Icelandic".
It is an insult to common sense to maintain that the supermarket chain has a stronger claim to the trademark than the country".
[5] In response the supermarket responded by stating that they regret the country's decision to take legal action and that "do not believe that any serious confusion or conflict has ever arisen in the public mind, or is likely to do so.
[10] The ruling stated that the supermarket chain founded in 1970 "cannot reasonably trademark the name of a country that has been around since the 9th century".