A London business and ‘community hub’ is raising money to try and fight legal action from an American company over its name.
Brixton Street Wear received a legal letter from a company called Brixton LLC demanding they stop using the word ‘Brixton’ in their business name.
Brixton LLC was founded in Oceanside, south of Los Angeles in California, and their attempt to ‘own a geographical place’ is ‘frustrating’, said Pete Adams, co-owner of the street wear business.
Not just a street wear clothing shop, Brixton Street Wear, co-owned by two London cabbies, is also a ‘community hub’ which reinvests its profits into local charities and clubs.
They say they’ve donated thousands of pounds within south London, and earlier this year they opened a shop in the independent Brixton Village market.
Pete, along with co-owner and brother Daniel O’Connell say they can’t afford a legal battle, which could cost tens of thousands of pounds, and they’ve created a GoFundMe page to try and cover some of the potential costs.
They’ve already raised more than £4,500 of their £20,000 goal, and say that if they don’t reach their goal, they’ll distribute the donations between other local community organisations they work with.
Pete said: ‘Our ethos is to “Give Back to our Community” by raising much-needed funds for local projects and we want to be able to continue doing this but are now being challenged by a US based brand named “Brixton LLC” who are trying to invalidate our trademark.
‘They have also summonsed us to court and want us to pay them for all money we have raised from using the word “Brixton”.
‘The US Brixton is based in California and has no ties to Brixton London, but wants to claim the word Brixton for themselves.
‘Our brand name reflects not just our geographical location but also our commitment to the people and businesses that make Brixton the vibrant place it is.
‘This lawsuit could have an impact to other Brixton based businesses and isn’t just about a name – it’s about the identity and autonomy of Brixton as a community.
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‘If we are forced to change our name or cease operations, it would set a dangerous precedent where local businesses could be silenced by larger, international corporations with no ties to our community.’
Speaking to the BBC, Daniel said: We’ve paid for everything ourselves and the only way we can fight this is with community and social media.
‘Financially we get nothing from this. We just do this to help out and give back something to the community.
‘This is a total headache and we both have young families.
‘The letters we have received from the lawyers are so cold-hearted, why can’t they just have a conversation with us?’
Metro has contacted Brixton Street Wear and Brixton LLC for more information
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