Cambridge Rowing applied to register its trademark, external – a shield with a rower on it and the words “Cambridge Rowing” underneath – in January 2022.
The following May, the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge filed an opposition to the application.
It left Terywall with “no idea where to turn”.
The university was a “huge, multibillion-pound entity”, while his was a “very small local business”.
“It’s terrifying – it really is,” he says.
“When you’ve got a very big organisation like them coming after you, it is pretty scary.”
Asked if he feels the university is trying to bully his company, Terywall speaks of his “great relationship” with “the colleges and the university”.
But he adds: “The university coming along as an entity – it can be scary – and I guess, yes, there is a form of bullying there.”
UK trademarks can be registered in 45 different classifications. Cambridge Rowing applied to register its logo in class 25 for sports clothing, class 35 for merchandising, and 41 for corporate hospitality, sports events and training.
The university, founded in 1209, has registered “Cambridge” as a trademark including, in class 41, for “sporting and cultural activities” and “sport camp services”.
It has objected to several companies’ attempts to include the word “Cambridge” in their names, arguing that “the public knows that in the contexts of education, publishing, sport, academia and research the word ‘Cambridge’ always refers to the University of Cambridge”.