Luxury watchmaker Rolex is asking a small company that makes watches for children to change its name, arguing that people might think the watches are related to the Swiss watchmaker .
The Devon-based Oyster & Pop family business provides the fun and educational children’s learning watch at an incredibly affordable price of £20 ($24.7). Contrastingly, Rolex recently came out with their Oysters “Ultra-Precision” line of watches for a hefty 6179.7 US dollars – a small fortune compared to Oysters & Pop’s budget friendly offering!
Sisters Emma Ross McNaren and Sarah Davis founded Oyster & Pop, which also sells wall charts, decimal sets and markers, in 2021. The sisters name the company after the neighborhood of Oyster Bend in Torbay, where they grew up.
Lawyers for Geneva-based Rolex wrote a letter to Oyster & Pop in early January to demand a change of brand. Rolex claims its name is similar to its Oyster Perpetual range of watches.
The company says that the “average and reasonably informed consumer” is likely to think of the Rolex line of watches when looking at the Oyster & Pop logo.
As a result, the lawyers demanded that the startup change its logo, website domain, and name; To avoid exposure to further action.
Emma Ross-McNaren, 46, described the situation as “nonsense” and the lawyer’s messages as “bullying”, telling the BBC: “I don’t think anyone would mistake our watches for a Rolex”.
Rolex introduced the Oyster line in 1926 as the first water-resistant watch. The Oyster Perpetual was introduced in 1933 as the first automatic water-resistant watch.
“With the help of some teacher friends, we designed a clock to inspire kids to learn how to read analog time,” says Oyster & Pop on its website.
This is the second time that Rolex has gone after the small company. Rolex previously won a default judgment against the two sisters in a trademark dispute in the United States after Oyster & Pop was unable to pay the price of a legal battle over the case.
Emma Ross-McNaren, who founded the company during the 2020 lockdown, says the rebranding would “crush” her small business and has launched a petition on change.org: “We believe there is no risk of anyone confusing us with Rolex.”
Emma added: “We don’t think Rolex should be allowed to stop us from using a name that is fundamentally different from theirs, but rather one that has personal connections to us founders of the small business. A rebranding would destroy Oyster & Pop.”