Eden Project takes on Penrith gardener over name

The Eden Project has enlisted lawyers to challenge a small gardening business over its name.

The Cornish attraction has formally objected to a trademark application by the Gardens of Eden in Penrith in relation to the term "Eden".

It asked owner Susan Davies to agree to legally-binding conditions on her use of the word, despite her business being based 400 miles away in the Cumbrian district of Eden.

She said it was "corporate bullying".

"They get away with it because they've got the financial might to force their will on other people," she said.

It was clear the businesses were unconnected, she added.

"I don't think that if somebody rings up the Gardens of Eden gardening service to come and do their borders for them that they think somebody is going to come up all the way from that big dome thing in Cornwall to do it," she said.

In a letter in October, lawyers for the Eden Project said it had discovered Ms Davies' trademark application and was "concerned by it due to its similarity" to the project's own trademarks.

They said they would withdraw their objection to her application if she agreed to sign a legally-binding document agreeing to a list of criteria.

These included not using her business name outside Cumbria, never using the word "Eden" in any other trademark, and never challenging the Eden Project's use of the word.

Ms Davies said she refused to sign but could not afford to challenge the Eden Project's objection to her trademark application.

"I don't really want to fight with a big massive company like that," she said.

In January plans were approved for the £125m Eden Project North in Morecambe, Lancashire, which is set to open in 2024.

It will see three seafront shell-shaped pavilions built on the coast, which the charity behind it said would re-imagine the area as "a seaside resort for the 21st Century".

The-then prime minister Boris Johnson said there was government "enthusiasm" for the project, but it needed a good business case before it could commit to funding.

The Eden Project issued a statement saying it was "happy" for Ms Davies to use the name Gardens of Eden "for her residential gardening services in Cumbria", but did not comment on the conditions it had set.

Ms Davies said she had "no plans to weed my way to world domination" and had been willing to agree to use her business name only for gardening services in Cumbria, as requested.

"There's only so many people's gardens you can do in a week," she said.

But the legal document, when it arrived, went "way beyond" what she had expected, adding conditions she could not agree to.

She said it was not right that the eco project was trying to claim ownership of a word that was a place name, a river and a surname, and used by other businesses in Cumbria.

An Eden Project spokesperson said: "Discussions are continuing regarding her trademark application and we hope we can conclude those soon to everyone's satisfaction."

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