Sisters from Devon have slammed Rolex for its ‘nonsense’ threats in a legal row over the name of their clockmaking business.
Rolex lawyers have written to Oyster & Pop claiming that people would link the educational clocks with the brand’s Oyster Perpetual watches.
Director of Oyster & Pop Emma Ross-McNairn said the lawyer’s letters had been bullish and that the situation was ‘nonsense’ as they named their clocks after the street they grew up on.
An online petition started by the sisters titled ‘Help STOP ROLEX from closing down a small women-owned, family business‘ has reached over 64,000 signatures in just over a week. Rolex have been approached for comment by MailOnline.
Director of Oyster & Pop Emma Ross-McNairn (pictured with sister Sarah Davies) said the lawyer’s letters had been bullish and that the situation was ‘nonsense’
Rolex lawyers have written to Oyster & Pop saying people would link the educational clocks (pictured)) with the brand’s Oyster Perpetual watches
Rolex is famous for selling high-end wrist watches including the Oyster Perpetual line (pictured) which retail for thousands of pounds
Oyster & Pop sell colourful wall clocks designed to help children learn to tell the time and are on sale at about £20.
Rolex is famous for selling high-end wrist watches including the Oyster Perpetual line which retail for thousands of pounds.
Lawyers for Rolex argued that the ‘average, reasonably well informed consumer’ would likely call the Rolex line of watches to mind when looking at the Oyster & Pop logo.
They added: ‘Consumers will inevitably be misled into thinking that your products emanate from Rolex.’
As a result the lawyers have demanded the firm change its logo, website domain and name to avoid further action.
Mrs Ross-McNairn said of the Rolex action: ‘It would just crush our business. ‘You see Formula One and Rolex sponsoring such huge events like that, you don’t then think of a children’s clock company. If someone says oyster to me, the first thing I think of is the Oyster Card on the tube, not Rolex watches.
The sisters said they used the name of Oyster Bend road for their business, which is where they grew up
‘They’ve taken such a strong bullish stance. The letters from them have been disappointing and aggressive. I don’t think anyone could confuse our clocks as coming from Rolex.’
Mrs Ross-McNairn started the business with her sister, Sarah Davies in 2020 when she was furloughed.
The pair sell the clocks online alongside other educational products including chores charts and fraction sets.
The 46-year-old explained that they named the firm after the road ‘Oyster Bend’ in Torbay, where the sisters grew up.
She said her firm had responded to Rolex with a nine-page letter highlighting reasons why the business felt the claims from Rolex were unjust.
The sisters had also offered to agree terms with Rolex – that they would never produce an adult watch and would never change the brand’s name to just Oyster.
Sarah Davies, 49, said: ‘These companies like to show how scary their lawyers are – but raising awareness can change that.
‘We just want to make the most of it now, to get the word out and show how we really are no threat. The public don’t think that we are any threat.’
The sisters received their first objection from Rolex first of all in the United States, where the largest proportion of their business operates.
When they were notified about Rolex’s opposition to their trademark, Sarah said the pair were ‘totally surprised’ – having launched their brand name after having done extensive research on Google and elsewhere to avoid any clashes.
Sarah said: ‘This never came up, never crossed our minds – and as you can see from our 65,000 signatures, nobody else makes that connection either.
‘We received the objection at first and tried to start a discussion with Rolex, but that didn’t really get us anywhere.’
‘We had to eventually withdraw, mostly because you cannot represent yourself in another country – we would have had to have a US attorney.
‘We did try initially, but it ate into our budget almost overnight and it cost us too much money.
‘We let our application lapse, and as a result we decided to try and do it in the UK instead – where we are allowed to represent ourselves.
‘We knew Rolex might try and oppose us again, then we received the second opposition late last year.
‘However this time we had not applied even in the same category Rolex are in, which is Category 14. We’ve applied in class 28 to try and avoid this confrontation.
‘It all went quiet for about six to eight months, and then we the big, threatening 28-page letter in the autumn last year from their lawyers.
‘They outlined various concerns, demanded that we close down immediately and destroy all of our stock. It was just very cut and dry, very forceful and very strongly worded.
‘They basically said ‘you’ve got to close down immediately’.’
The sisters say they started their business as a leap of faith to try and kickstart a new career, while also being parents – using valuable skills developed throughout their careers.
Sarah added: ‘We get so many lovely reviews and comments on Amazon both here in the UK and also the US from customers about how helpful the products have been for their children – particularly the clock which was our first and biggest products.
‘Telling the time is just one of those life skills that everyone should learn, but loads of people don’t. So being able to help kids do that in an easier way is really valuable.
‘Our sales since this all started have gone up nicely in the UK actually, especially yesterday (18/1).
‘We were very glad to have a lot of stock in the UK – particularly given all the challenges for small businesses in the worldwide market at the moment.’
Thousands of people have since criticised Rolex’s approach following the petition.
Posting online Sheila Clark wrote: ‘I disapprove of the unjustified bullying of small companies by big brands.’
D Montgomery added: ‘A shame Rolex is so bored they threaten a small business of no threat to them using the word Oyster!
‘I hope the court throws this out as a disgraceful waste of resourses and an an attempt to copyright words as names.’
Felicity Bega wrote: ‘I love their clocks, they are used at my son’s school. They are nothing like Rolex watches.’
