The owner of a rowing business has lost a trademark battle with the University of Cambridge over his use of the historic city in his company’s name.

Omar Terywall founded Cambridge Rowing, a business that introduces novices to the sport on the River Cam, and applied to register the name and a logo in 2022.

But the chancellor, masters and scholars of the university – which trademarked ‘Cambridge’ several years ago to stop companies taking advantage of an implied link with the 800-year-old institution - lodged a formal objection, arguing that it must ‘prevent misuse’.

Mr Terywall, 46, had claimed the legal challenge was ‘bonkers’ and accused the university of ‘bullying’.

But, following a hearing last summer, the Intellectual Property Office has now ruled against him – and order his firm to pay the university’s £2,400 costs.

In a written judgement, IPO hearing officer Rose Le Breton concluded there was a ‘likelihood of confusion’ between Cambridge Rowing and the various services available from the university.

This meant there was ‘no doubt’ that Cambridge Rowing would ‘benefit unfairly’ from the educational establishment’s ‘significant investment’ in its ‘reputation and image of prestige created by its widely publicised achievements’.

Ms Le Breton added this would lead to the company ‘securing a commercial advantage as a direct benefit of the opponent’s reputation’.

Mr Terywall said he was ‘gutted’ at the ruling and was considering an appeal.

‘To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,’ he told the BBC, adding local residents would be ‘outraged’ that ‘one entity owns the word “Cambridge” because it doesn’t help the rest of the city prosper in any kind of way at all’.

The businessman founded the firm in 2021 and claims to have introduced 5,000 novices to the sport since then.

In February the following year he applied to trademark the logo, which operates on the River Cam as Cambridge Rowing Experience, triggering the objection.

During the IPO hearing in July last year, barrister Guy Tritton, representing the university, told Ms Le Breton that the logo, which shows a shield with a rower and the name of the company, amounted to a ‘nudge and a wink to the university’.

Speaking before the ruling, Mr Terywall complained that taking ‘ownership’ of the words ‘Cambridge’ and ‘rowing’ was ‘bonkers’.

He added: ‘Nobody really owns the right to the word “Cambridge” and nobody can say that they own the word “rowing” either. It belongs to all of us.

‘The company is Cambridge Rowing Ltd and it is a Cambridge rowing experience. It’s where we are and it’s what I do.’

The legal challenge left him with ‘no idea where to turn’, he complained, because it is a ‘huge, multi-billion-pound entity’, while he operates a ‘very small local business’.

He continued: ‘It’s terrifying when you’ve got a big organisation like them coming after you… I guess, yes, there is a form of bullying there.’

The university, which was founded in 1209, has registered ‘Cambridge’ as a trademark, including for ‘sporting and cultural activities’ and ‘sport camp services’.

Downing College, which is part of the university, also holds a trademark for ‘Cambridge Rowing Tank’, an indoor training facility which has two ten-tonne pools.

The university - which takes part in an annual boat race against Oxford University each year - has objected to previous attempts by other companies to use ‘Cambridge’ in their names.

It argues 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’.

In 2021, following an objection, it was ruled that a brewery could not register ‘Cambridge Blue’ as the name of a boat race-themed lager.

The hearing officer in that case said the name could give the ‘false message that the goods had been authorised, recommended or approved of’ by Cambridge University, which would give the brewery an ‘unfair advantage’.

The university said in a statement that prior to the IPO case with Mr Terywall it had ‘sought a compromise that would work for both parties, approaching discussions cooperatively and with no wish to stop the applicant trading'.

The applicant 'regrettably declined', which meant it had to 'oppose the application as it is often subject to third parties adopting names which deliberately or otherwise seek to gain advantage from the university's reputation’.

The statement added: 'That matters. For example, time and again, "Cambridge" summer schools and other organisations trade unfairly off the University’s international standing and renown, causing families worldwide to be misled.'

The deadline for Cambridge Rowing to appeal to the IPO is March 3.

The earliest known depiction of a rowing boat dates from about 5,800 BC and was discovered in Finland, according to World Rowing, the international governing body for the sport.