Games firm settles with retail giant

A HUNTINGDON games company has been locked in a legal battle with Marks & Spencer which ended when the retail giant agreed to withdraw a range of puzzles from its stores. Shoppers looking for an early Christmas present in M&S may have been tempted by the

A HUNTINGDON games company has been locked in a legal battle with Marks & Spencer which ended when the retail giant agreed to withdraw a range of puzzles from its stores.

Shoppers looking for an early Christmas present in M&S may have been tempted by the fiendish-looking "Impossi-puzzle," a jigsaw puzzle featuring hundreds of tiny pieces forming a repetitive pattern.

But when John Mitchley, the managing director of games company BV Leisure, saw the puzzles, his first reaction was to call his lawyers.

The firm has been making its own range of jigsaws called "Impossipuzzle," without the hyphen, for more than 10 years.

The first puzzle featured nothing but a sea of identical baked beans and proved an instant hit with jigsaw puzzle addicts.

In the legal tussle that followed, Marks & Spencer agreed to settle out of court, withdrawing the Impossi-puzzles from sale before the Christmas rush.

A spokeswoman for Marks & Spencer said: "We've come to an amicable arrangement with BV Leisure and there has been an out of court settlement without an admission of liability on our part."

BV Leisure, which is also licensed to produce jigsaws featuring The Simpsons, Elvis and Disney characters, launched a festive version of the Impossipuzzle - featuring brussel sprouts.

Christine Barnes, the manager of BV Leisure, said: "At Christmas people can't get enough of them. There's a national obsession in this country with brussel sprouts at that time, so it's a good product.