City centre burger joint Smashed Preston has been hit with a trademark infringement claim.

The owner of the Miller Arcade eatery, Mickey Jerome, received a letter from the High Court of Justice on Wednesday (19 October).

The claimant is Smashburger, a US-owned company that was founded in Denver, Colarado in 2007. The chain has UK branches in Bath, Brighton, Newcastle, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Wednesbury and Dunfermline.

The letter was followed by papers being hand-delivered to Mickey’s home on Saturday (22 October).

The dossier contained photos of customers inside the restaurant, plus images of Mickey’s children and pets. It also included copies of social media posts where Mickey had spoken out about his mental health.

Mickey says the shock claim has affected his whole family.

Speaking to Blog Preston, Mickey said: “As it’s a family business, work doesn’t stop at work. My partner does most of the marketing activity, and my children see us when we get frustrated.

“The man who came to our house threw the court papers on the floor in front of us. Our children are 10 and 13 so trying to explain it was difficult. They don’t understand.

“I’m battling through a deep depression that started when I lost my mum and niece in a short time.

“Since we have opened we have had nothing but problems, which makes my mental health worse. However I speak about it loudly as it helps me and I want to help others battling alone.

“But what has most deeply upset me is bringing my mental health into the legal court paperwork.”

Mickey says he wants to make people aware of the behaviour of big name brands towards small businesses.

He said: “We are named Smashed Preston as we are a bar where people get smashed and eat smashed burgers.

“So many places are now called ‘Smash this’, ‘Smash that’, so we don’t know why we’re being picked on.

“They say we are making profits from their word smash/smashed from their business. We live day-to-day and we don’t have a lot of money so we don’t understand what they want.

“It’s time people saw how big brands do nothing but bully not just us, but other small businesses too.”

Blog Preston contacted Smashburger for comment.

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