LAUNCESTON Rugby Football Club has been threatened with legal action by the New Zealand Rugby Union over the use of their nickname the 'Cornish All Blacks.'

The move comes after team officials at Launceston looked into the possibility of making a trademark out of the All Blacks name in order to protect their commercial property and and to prevent rogue traders from producing counterfeit versions of their kit.

But New Zealand's trademark agents have warned that they are ready to take legal action against the Launceston club to safeguard the All Blacks name.

Responding to the legal threat, Tony Randel, Launceston Rugby Football Club President, said: "We were dismayed but unfortunately not surprised when the New Zealand RFU objected to this move. We do not believe that any reasonable person could mistake Launceston RFC for the New Zealand national side and we have never sought to imply that the two are linked, nor have we tried to trade on their name."

LRFC was officially founded in 1948. In those days of austerity, finding complete matching sets of rugby kit was very difficult and expensive. The players of the newly formed club therefore sought to produce matching kit from whatever was available.

Some players took other kits and dyed them to a uniform colour and black was the easiest to match. Others made kit out of blackout curtains. The nickname Cornish All Blacks was coined at that time and has been the nickname of the club ever since. There is further anecdotal evidence of a game being played against Holsworthy in 1889 when the Launceston team wore black.

Mr Randel added: "I have no doubt that, notwithstanding any eventual ruling on this matter, that will continue to be our nickname. We note in passing that the New Zealand national team became known as the 'New Zealand All Blacks' during a tour to the UK and a match in Cornwall when a pressman mistakenly referred to the visitors as the 'All Blacks' rather than the intended 'All Backs' in reference to all their points being scored by their back division."

He continued: "The Cornish All Blacks are a community based club in Cornwall who play in National Division 2. As part of our activities, we work in schools and community groups around the county to build the profile of rugby and to develop new talent.

"We are also keen to raise funding for our chosen charity — Cancer Research UK — and our away kit this season is all pink. We believe that our activities in this area may be threatened if we are no longer allowed to use the nickname Cornish All Blacks as many hundreds of replica kits will have to be disposed of."

Mr Randel added: "We have not had any direct contact on this matter from the New Zealand RFU: all communications have been through their trade mark attorneys and the UK Intellectual Property Office. We believe that, should they get in contact with us, they will soon appreciate that we are no commercial threat to them whatsoever and still hope to negotiate an amicable settlement.

"In order to show our goodwill towards the New Zealand RFU, we would welcome the New Zealand national team down to Polson Bridge at any time for a match."