A hotel chain which threatened a village association with legal action for using its name has backed down saying the letter was sent in error.
The Copthorne residents’ association received a letter from ‘brand protection officers’ acting for Millennium and Copthorne Hotels, saying it was infringing the hotel group’s trademark.
It demanded that the Copthorne Residents’ Association remove Copthorne from its web address – copthornevillage.org.
But a spokesman for Millennium and Copthorne Hotels said that the letter was sent in error by a company commissioned to identify where the brand name was being used illicitly.
He added that the company withdrew the letter and apologised the next day.
The hotel chain, which took its name from the West Sussex village after taking over a hotel there in 1972, now owns 33 hotels across the globe that are branded ‘Copthorne’ – including places in China, Dubai and New Zealand.
The Copthorne hotel was bought by British Caledonian Airways, later Aer Lingus, in 1978.
In 1995, Copthorne Hotels chain was bought by CDL Hotels International, and the group was later renamed Millennium Hotels and Resorts.
