We regret that we did not seek News International’s comment before publishing the story about Ireland Today in last week’s edition of Press Gazette and are happy to publish the following NI statement as: “News International has no intention or desire whatsoever to stop Mr O’Muilleoir and his colleagues from launching their new paper, nor do we hold any view on the content, political stance or positioning of the new product.
Our only concern about their plan is that they wish to use a name – Ireland Today – which is our registered trademark. Despite our repeated invitations since before their launch to discuss this we have had no direct response from them, nor have we had any substantive response from their lawyers. Given that they have already begun using our trademark in their launch publicity materials our options under trademark law are limited. This is why we have taken legal action, as any trademark owner would do in the circumstances.
We remain willing to enter into a dialogue and we would prefer to have avoided going to court with all the cost that entails for the losing party.”
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