A BRIT holiday pub is facing legal action from Wetherspoons over its jokey name WEATHERSPAINS.
But the landlord of the popular Costa del Sol boozer has vowed to fight the pub goliath.
Andy Inman, 61, who co-owns Weatherspains in Benalmadena with Spanish partner Mayka Sanchez, 51, says J D Wetherspoons has accused them of breaching European copyright law.
The British pub chain has even asked a Spanish judge to prevent Weatherspains from trading under its name and threatened to launch a full-on legal battle.
Andy and Mayka, who have run the popular boozer without issue for seven years, have now been forced to cover up part of the sign outside until the dispute is resolved.
But speaking to The Sun from their pub overlooking the Med, Newcastle-born Andy vowed to fight on.
He said: “We’ve dealt with everything Wetherspoons have thrown at us and won’t give up.”
While Malaga-born Mayka, raged: “We have to defend ourselves from what Wetherspoons are saying.
“I own the Weatherspains brand and the trademark is registered here and in Europe and we have no intention of changing the name.
“I’m confident the judge will not agree with the British pub chain’s demands and stop us calling ourselves something we’ve copyrighted.
“And if this does go to a full lawsuit we’ve done our homework and we’re ready for the fight.”
Andy said the spat began last August when a man came into their bar claiming to rep Spoons.
“He left me a warning letter claiming we were infringing their trademarks and giving us a September deadline to rename the bar,” he said.
“He didn’t leave a business card and the deadline came and went and nothing happened.
“When he came back in January Makya got our lawyers to talk to Wetherspoons and they’ve ended up hiring a Spanish law firm to launch the legal action they’ve decided to pursue.”
The name above the door currently says just ‘Spains’ and the couple has suspended the boozer’s Facebook account and tweaked the pub menu.
British tourists and expats who wash down (EUROS 12.50) £11 home-made chicken curries with (EUROS 3.50) £3 large glasses of sangria are now given menus that say ‘The Weather of Spain’ at the top.
When approached by The Sun, J D Wetherspoons, which has over 800 UK pubs, claimed the dispute had been resolved after the owners of Weatherspains had agreed to permanently change the bar’s name.
But Newcastle-born Andy, 61, who ran an asbestos firm in the UK before moving to Spain 17 years ago, says that’s just not true.
In a statement J D Wetherspoons said: “Wetherspoon is a registered trademark in the UK, EU and nine other countries, which prevents the use of identical or similar trade marks in these territories.
“A pub in Benalmadena, a popular holiday destination with British tourists, was trading under the name Weatherspains.
“J D Wetherspoon attempted to engage with the establishment on several occasions to request a change of name, prior to legal action being taken.
“The bar has since changed its name to The Weather of Spain, which brings this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.”
But Andy fumed: “It’s not true that we haven’t engaged with Wetherspoons.
I covered up the ‘ Weather ‘ part of Weatherspains on the sign outside the bar on Monday, but it’s just a precaution.
“To be honest most customers haven’t even picked up on it and I tell the ones that do that it’s down to an electrical fault.”
Sean Lolan, 52, from Bath, a regular who owns a nearby bar, said: “It’s a big fish trying to swallow a small fish.
And for what reason?
“If Wetherspoons felt they had a good market here in Spain they would have gone for it.
“The name of this bar represents the country it’s in.
It’s ‘Weather’ not ‘ Wether’ and it’s in Spain.
“Andy’s a lovely guy who’s helped me a lot with my business.”
Holidaymaker Susan Black, 50, from Irvine in Scotland , said: “The terrace of our Wetherspoons back home overlooks an Asda car park so the sea view from here is a lot nicer.
“I think Weatherspains is a clever play on words but that’s all I see it as.”
But tourist Athon Dorran, 18, moaned: “I was hoping to get a v enom cocktail like the one Wetherspoons do back home which has got vodka, Southern Comfort , Blue WKD and orange juice in it, but sadly they don’t do them here.”
