`Glee` may have to change name in UK after losing court battle
Musical comedy `Glee` may have to be renamed for UK broadcast after losing a High Court battle with a Midlands comedy club.
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London: Musical comedy `Glee` may have to be renamed for UK broadcast after losing a High Court battle with a Midlands comedy club.Earlier this year, the US network lost a legal battle against UK comedy chain Glee Club, with the court ruling that the series breached a trademark held by the chain.
The High Court has now ordered 21st Century Fox to `cease naming` the series `Glee` in the UK, and awarded 100,000 pounds in damages to Glee Club owner Comic Enterprises Ltd, suggest reports.
"I find it hard to believe that the cost of the re-titling and publicising of the new name would be so prohibitive compared to the value of the series," Judge Roger Wyand said in a written ruling.
"I was told many times during the course of the trial how this series is a `blockbuster`."
However, the judge went on to order that the name-change injunction cannot be enforced until the case has been considered by the Court of Appeal.
Mark Tughan registered the name `The Glee Club` as a British trademark in 1999, ten years prior to the TV show`s first season.
He now runs four venues under the brand in Birmingham, Cardiff, Nottingham and Oxford.
"It`s a relief because you can`t get any more David and Goliath than this," said Tughan following the victory back in February.
"I always knew it would be a career-defining situation but I did not take it on for the fun of it - I took it on to win."
The sixth and final series of `Glee` will run for 13 episodes and is expected to be broadcast in 2015.
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