Two diet companies are locked in a heavyweight battle after one of them claimed that it owns the word “sin”.
Slimming World, a slimming club that used “sin” to designate restricted food treats, recently changed the spelling to “syn”.
However, it has still filed an opposition document claiming that a new company called Sin & Slim does not have a valid trademark. The 18-page submission claims that the word belongs to Slimming World. A spokesman for Sin & Slim said the company was prepared to defend the lawsuit in court if necessary.
“We feel strongly that we should make a stand against a company that’s clearly trying to monopolise the market,” she said. “However, we are still puzzled as to why Slimming World would claim ownership of the biblical word ‘sin’.”
Slimming World claimed last night that it had trademarked the word sin and had used it for the past 35 years. “It is a principle under trademark law that a company has a right to protect its intellectual property.
“Since they have attempted to register the name as a trademark they should not be surprised nor under any illusion that any organisation that has built up years of goodwill in a trademark would not look to protect it when necessary.”
Sin & Slim is a web-based weight-loss plan, while Slimming World offers both an internet-based plan and regular meetings.
A final decision over the ownership of “sin” under trademark law lies with the Patents Office, which is reviewing now it.