A Scottish start-up has received notice from the Intellectual Property Office that L’Oréal is threatening to oppose a trademark application for its name, according to a report published by the BBC.  

The Naked Soap Company, which was founded six months ago and produces bath bombs, has been informed that the French beauty giant trademarked the term ‘Naked’ for its eponymous Urban Decay palette. The company has set up a crowd-funding page on its website to fund the ‘pending legal challenge’ and is hoping to raise £20,000 through donations.

“We produce bath bombs, not eye shadow or make-up, so there can be no confusion for consumers,” said Garylee Rushforth, Founder of the Naked Soap Company. “I’m disappointed that a global corporation that must have started small like us at one time would want to penalise us. Rebranding all our uniforms, delivery vans and contracts is a cost we can’t bear and would cause us to shed jobs.”

“As this matter is the subject of ongoing administrative proceedings we are unable to provide further comment at this time,” a spokesperson for L’Oréal told the BBC.