Dundee-based independent Spex Pistols was forced to change its name after facing legal action from the punk rock band Sex Pistols due to missing a deadline to renew trademark rights to the name.
Spex Pistols founder Richard Cook held the trademark since 2012, but after narrowly missing the renewal date in 2024 amidst stressful circumstances, including a bereavement and a heart attack, he received a cease-and-desist notice.
‘It’s hard to see how we can be a threat to the Sex Pistols. They are a global brand with millions of followers from the punk scene all around the world. We are a wee spectacle shop in the smallest street in Dundee concentrating on serving our modest but loyal customer base as best we can,’ he said.
Glitterbox, which represents the Sex Pistols, eventually agreed for the practice to retain the name, but under tight and ‘unworkable’ branding restrictions, leaving Cook with no option but to rebrand the shop.
The newly branded Land O’Spex, a nod to the former Wallace’s Bakery shop, Land O’Cakes in Stobswell in Dundee, has been entirely repainted and was completed by a mid-May deadline, which was set by The Sex Pistols.
