A family-owned fresh food group has thrown a spanner in the works of launch plans for Morrisons’ new online shopping business.

The Bradford-based retailer, which announced last month it would join the online home shopping revolution within the next two years, is facing a ‘David and Goliath’-style trademark battle after it applied to register FreshDirect as the branding for the new venture.

FreshDirect is the name of the US fresh food delivery business in which Morrisons bought a ten per cent stake for £32 million last month.

However, Oxford-based produce supplier Fresh Direct, which has operated under the name since 1995, has already registered the words within its logo and applied to register the term last year.

“I would want to see Morrisons’ logo design first, but we would still object,” said David Burns, managing director of Fresh Direct.

He added that he had previously been in contact with the New York-based FreshDirect and they had exchanged tips on best practice.

A Morrisons spokesman said no decisions had been made about the branding for the online business, in spite of applying to register the trademark last month. He added that the move was “prudent as FreshDirect is a partner”.

Morrisons staff have been seconded to New York for a year to learn more about the company’s operations, which serves 600,000 customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Morrisons’ boss Dalton Philips has joined the FreshDirect board and said the link would help to develop the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket’s online operations.

He said: “I have seen retailers all over the world. Few have inspired me as much as the team at FreshDirect, a highly-successful and profitable food retailer with a track record of terrific customer service.

“What we learn from FreshDirect will be invaluable as we plan our own profitable e-commerce business for the UK.”

Morrisons is the last of the ‘big four’ UK supermarket chains to embrace online selling.

Fresh Direct, based in Bicester, started as a mobile fruit and vegetable shop in 1966 and has grown into one of the leading suppliers of fresh produce to the food service industry, providing 800 different types of produce.

It was the sole catering supplier for opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1993 and for the Millenium Dome in 2000, and recently signed a six-year deal to supply the Ministry of Defence.