Haven't you got it back-to-front jno? The country is taking the shops to court, not the shops taking the country to court.
It would be most amusing if the country were made to change its name.
We started with Bejam in the early 70's when you could buy 20lb packs of peas or carrots etc as an economy measure. We just use it for convenience now.
bhg, no, the reason the country is doing this is because the shops keep suing anyone with Iceland in their name. Icelanders think they have been around longer and have a right to use their country's name.
Iceland the country has a point. They have companies who want to use the name Iceland ( the country) in their trading name but are prevented from doing so by a UK frozen food company.
Iceland the country is trying to use its name as a brand. That brand name is already owned by Iceland the shop. I expect the shop is angling for a cash settlement and they will change their name to 'Ice-land' or similar.
I would let the country of Iceland have sole rights to their name if they paid back the debts that they dishonoured subsequent to the Icelandic financial crisis of 2008.