Liverpool FC's attempt to trademark "Liverpool" was rejected by the Intellectual Property Office due to the "geographic significance" of the city.

The club's attempt to trademark the term, which came to light in recent months, sparked outrage even amongst the clubs' own supporters.

“We underestimated the reaction to it. We had, in very good faith, looked at what we were seeing on a global basis and particularly stuff that was coming into the UK. We felt obliged to protect the football club and had looked at other similar situations for clubs that had trademarked their place names in a football context, there are numerous examples," said Liverpool CEO Peter Moore.