National Trust says sorry for ‘bullying’ over Glencoe name
● Organisation backs down after accusations of ‘bullying’ firm
The National Trust for Scotland admits it may have been too harsh in threatening legal action against a small business it says has violated its trademark.
The business accused the conservation charity of bullying after the organisation’s lawyers demanded it stop making Glencoe-branded jackets as it owns the rights to the name.
Hilltrek Outdoor Clothing, based in Aberdeenshire, has been making the jackets for 30 years, while the NTS only registered its trademark in 2015.
An NTS spokesman said: “In retrospect, although the letter sent to Hilltrek was a standard one, it may have been, in the circumstances of this particular company, too harsh in tone.”
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has conceded it may have been too harsh after a small business accused the conservation charity of bullying.
Lawyers for the NTS threatened Aboyne-based Hilltrek Outdoor Clothing with legal action over use of the name Glencoe, ordering it to stop selling its £365 Glencoe waterproof jacket immediately.
A letter issued to owner Dave Shand said the NTS was the “registered proprietor of the UK trademark registration for GLENCOE”.
In the letter, lawyers for the charity, which owns most of the glen, stated: “NTS seeks to ensure that only goods and services of suppliers with geographical links to GLENCOE can bear the name GLENCOE and also to protect the interests of the local community and local trade in GLENCOE.
“NTS requires that you: 1. immediately stop selling any goods which include the name GLENCOE from your website and 2. refrain from using GLENCOE on any future products and/or packaging.”
Mr Shand, who bought Hilltrek Outdoor Clothing in 2003, said the company, which employs just three other people, had been making the jacket for between 25 and 30 years.
Hundreds of people have responded after he posted the letter on Facebook, including many NTS members threatening to cancel their membership.
Describing the moment he received the letter, Mr Shand said: “I was really angry, I just couldn’t believe it. I was stunned by it.
“They obviously think that Aboyne and Deeside is too far away to have a geographical connection, but I’ve been hillwalking in Glencoe since my late teens.
“I have a connection with Glencoe and so do our customers.”
Of the jacket, he said: “We don’t produce huge numbers and our product is a premium product. It’s not a ‘See You Jimmy’ hat with Glencoe on it. It’s a top-end product.”
Mr Shand said: “I hope the NTS will approach us and we’ll have some useful dialogue rather than this nonsense.
“This is what I would have expected of them as an organisation – send a letter saying, ‘You are infringing our trademark but we’d like to know more about your product to see if it fits in with our brand’. That’s what I would have expected, a reasonable approach rather than bullying.
“Personally I hate bullies, so they’ve picked the wrong person. I’m determined to fight it.”
An NTS spokesman said: “In retrospect, although the letter sent to Hilltrek was a standard one, it may have been, in the circumstances of this particular company, too harsh in tone.”
He added: “Many people have been surprised that it is both possible and necessary to for us to trademark a place name like Glencoe.
“This was a surprise to us too, when an attempt was made to trademark St Kilda by a third party without our knowledge or consent, despite us owning and caring for the property.”