A COFFEE shop is having to change its name after four years after a roasting company said they owned the trademark for the name.

Compass Coffee, which is located in Penarth Marina, opened in May 2014 and has always had the same name due to the building being called Compass Coffee.

Current owners Marcus Hill and Craig Pugh said they were contacted by lawyers from The Coffee Compass on the South Coast of England saying they owned the trademark for "compass".

The cafe owners say they now have until October 15 to rebrand the cafe, which is going to be a "financial nightmare".

Mr Pugh said: "The issue is that the words "coffee compass" had been trademarked three weeks after the company was registered. When we consulted a trademark attorney they informed us that we would have to prove to a judge that we were established and reputable before the trademark was registered, if we could prove that then we could seek to get the trademark invalidated.

"The attorney said that a judge was not likely to find that we were both established and reputable within a matter of weeks.

"We were advised that we could fight the claim, but the likelihood of us winning wasn't great and we would probably be told to change it anyway. So we would have the same outcome with many thousands of extra expense on top, and as a small company we couldn't afford to take that risk. "

The owners asked if they could drop the word coffee, but were told that compass was the defining word of both businesses, so it may be seen as an infringement.

"In all fairness, the situation sucks, but if The Coffee Compass have a trademark we accept that. We inherited the name and meant no harm," said Mr Pugh.

"We have until October 15 to rebrand everything, which is going to be a financial nightmare, costing many thousands more than what we'd originally thought."

However, Mr Hill and Mr Pugh have turned the situation into a positive by asking the people of Penarth to get involved and help them rebrand the business. They are asking people to submit suggestions for a new name to them via their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The business is also crowdfunding to help with the costs of rebranding everything.

To donate to the crowdfunder, which is running for the next three weeks, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/rebrand-compass-coffee