Legal advisers acting on behalf of the Star newspaper have issued a strong warning to radio station Dublin's Country 106.8 not to change its name to Star FM.
Solicitors for Express Newspapers, which has a 50 per cent stake in the Star, warned that the newspaper may "consider its legal position" if the station presses ahead with plans to change its name. The solicitors claim the use of Star FM could infringe the newspaper's intellectual property rights.
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) is due to consider the name change at a meeting on June 21st.
Dublin's Country 106.8 FM has been trying to change its name for some time in an attempt to broaden its audience.
An earlier attempt to change its name to Choice FM failed.
Last night, Dublin's Country indicated it was not considering abandoning its plans. A statement from Mr Seán Ashmore, chief executive, said: "We have every intention of proceeding with the name change, subject to BCI approval at their meeting on June 21st. The station was awarded its licence under the name Star FM in 2001. In recent weeks, the company, Star Broadcasting Limited, has registered the business name Star FM and the domain 'www.starfm.ie' with no difficulty or objection."
He added: "We see there being a significant difference between the nature of a local radio station and a national newspaper. Our own trademark attorneys have advised that the word 'star' has, at most, even in respect of identical activities, only a low level of distinctiveness. In our case, we'll be using the full station name of 106.8 Star FM which will ensure a completely separate identity."
Despite this, solicitors for the Star, LK Shields, want to be notified by Dublin's Country by next Friday whether it intends to rename itself Star FM "now or in the future".
The solicitors state that, if Dublin's Country intends to proceed, it should immediately abandon such plans so that it does not infringe the intellectual property rights of the Star.
If the radio station does not produce an acceptable response, the solicitors warn, they will advise the newspaper to write to the BCI in advance of the June 21st meeting and put the BCI on notice that a potential infringement of intellectual property rights could be about to take place.
Dublin's Country has been loss-making for some time and several fundraisings have taken place. However, under Mr Ashmore, the station has started to gain ground and it sees a name change as improving its chances in the Dublin market.
While it may be possible to change its name, the station's music policy cannot be significantly altered under the terms of its licence, according to BCI rules.
