Burger chain Grill’d has announced that it will be taking legal action against Mitre 10 Australia for ‘hijacking its brand’.

Mitre 10 has released a range of barbecues with the name Grill’d, featuring an apostrophe and a missing ‘e’ – trademarks that the chain says is synonymous with its own branding. It has lodged a formal objection with the Trade Marks Office asking it to reject Mitre 10’s trademark.

Grill’d founder Simon Crowe pointed to the fact that spelling of Grill’d is unique to his company, something that should be respected and understood by a company like Mitre 10.

“We’ve built the company over the past five and a half years, so it’s not like we’re invisible, especially in Melbourne where Mitre 10 is based. I find it extraordinary Mitre 10 chose to use the same brand name out of all names they could have come up with,” explained Crowe.

“Where has the creativity in marketing and branding gone? Brand rip-offs are occurring all the time and no one is saying anything about it. Where’s the public debate about this? We believe Mitre 10 is profiting from our hard-earned reputation and we’re not going to sit quietly and let them cash in on our brand.”

A Mitre 10 spokesperson said in a statement the company rejects any claim it has acted illegally, and said it had applied through the correct channels in order to register the barbecue brand.

It also mentioned that Crowe and Mitre 10 chief executive Mark Burrowes had been in negotiations over the issue for months.

“Mitre 10 has been communicating with Grill’d Pty Ltd on this issue and to allay any possible confusion, we have offered to modify the use of ‘Grill’d’ to ‘Mitre 10 Grill’d’ in our point of sale, packaging and advertising material, starting next season,” said the statement.