MORRISONS has become involved in a "David and Goliath" clash over new branding for its fresh fish products.

The Bradford-based supermarket is being challenged by a small family-run fish wholesaler which claims Morrisons new branding is too like its own.

The row erupted after Morrisons applied to register The Big Fish Company as a trademark for its own-label fish ranges processed at a seafood filleting and portioning factory in Grimsby which the retailer opened in 2012.

But Grimsby-based fish wholesaler JCS Fish has objected to the trademark application, claiming that Morrisons' branding is too similar to its own Big Fish brand which it registered in 2010.

Andrew Coulbeck, JCS Fish managing director, said: "We have been in touch with Morrisons and its legal team and they have said that they don’t consider the two marks to be similar. They haven’t withdrawn their trademark applications and are still selling the products.

"We are a small family firm and have worked hard over the past six years to build up our BigFish brand, including investing some £700,000 this year in our factory. Together with our marketing efforts, this has helped fuel brand growth of around ten per cent in the past 12 months.

"We strongly believe the existence of another very similar brand in the fish category is a direct threat to the future success of our own business and have no option but to oppose these trademarks with all the means at our disposal.

"We don’t understand why, when they surely knew about us, Morrisons would want to choose a brand which is so close to ours. It just feels like they are trampling on a smaller business, particularly since when they first applied for the mark, the Trade Mark Registry told them that our mark may be identical or similar, at which point Morrisons could have withdrawn their application."

JCS Fish, has 40 staff and annual sales of £6 million against Morrisons 117,000 staff and £16.8 billion in sales.

A Morrisons spokesman said: " We decided to brand our fish ranges as The Big Fish Company to cater for customers who prefer to buy branded goods. We have had legal and other advisors compare the two brands and have concluded that they are not similar."

He said Morrisons would continue with its trademark application in the face of JCS's objection. The dispute would be subject to a ruling by an adjudicator from the UK trademark authorities.