Cole Palmer backs down in dispute with wine house Palmer

6 October 2025

In our previous flash update, we wrote about the conflict between the famous French winery Château Palmer and English footballer Cole Palmer. The Chelsea star had applied for both a UK and EU trademark for the word mark Cold Palmer covering a wide range of products, including wine. Cold Palmer is the player’s nickname. The French, however, were not amused. Another “Palmer” wine brand was the last thing they wanted. And they threatened to file an opposition.

Wine excluded

The UK and EU trademark registers now show that Cole Palmer has decided to back down. In the trademark filing for Cold Palmer, class 33 “alcoholic beverages” is still listed, but it now explicitly excludes wine. So, the footballer is free to launch a liqueur under the name Cold Palmer, but Cold Palmer wine is off the table. Château Palmer is pleased, and the dispute is resolved!

Avoiding an expensive procedure

And rightly so. In many cases, long and costly trademark disputes can be avoided if you’re willing (and able) to compromise a little. That’s exactly what the footballer did here. It probably also helped that his chances of winning a legal battle against the renowned French winery were quite slim.

Bas Kist

Bas Kist is mede-oprichter van Merkenbureau Chiever. Hij schrijft regelmatig artikelen over merken- en auteursrecht in de Volkskrant en Adformatie. Daarnaast is hij docent bij de European Institute for Brand management EURIB.