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Suspended website back in business after trademark row

An interview and discussion website suspended over the summer in a spat over alleged trade mark infringement is back in business.

But the row, which nearly ended in a court battle for its journalist owners, may have put paid to an original project ideal aimed at “restoring confidence in a much-maligned Fourth Estate and giving the public a real insight into the famous.”

The resulting compromise is a new domain name, new concept and revamped site which will focus exclusively on sport and its myriad issues.

And for its Scottish sport writer owners Bryan Cooney and Jim Black it means out goes No Grey Areas and in comes Cooney & Black as their latest digital incarnation.

“Fulsome apologies are due to our many thousands of customers from all over the world,” said Bryan, who worked as a freelance for the Sunday Herald for 12 years until last August when he set up No Grey Areas with ex Scottish Sun sports journalist Jim Black after quitting the paper in an online resignation.

“After allegedly infringing a trade mark of a company based in Amsterdam, we were forced to suspend operations until the matter was resolved,” added the award-winning journalist who was a former head of sport at the Daily Mail.

The No Grey Areas website was launched originally with a sports theme, which broadened its base to include the world of films, theatre, music and books.

One of the articles that caused the biggest stir penned by Bryan Cooney himself informing the public the reasons why he was quitting the Sunday Herald.

The new name and return to an all-sport format will see issues “tackled boldly and unequivocally by our bloggers,” added Bryan, pictured above.

Audio and video interviews will accompany written articles with two new features – the Going Retro section for fans of nostalgia and Meet the Parents -a valuable insight into the early lives of famous sportsmen and women.

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