COMEDY club chain Glee, which has a venue in Oxford, has launched legal action against the makers of the hit TV show of the same name.

Comic Enterprises Ltd has said 20th Century Fox infringed its trademark when it launched its show about a high school musical “glee club” in 2009.

Club chain owner Mark Tughan, who runs one of the comedy clubs in Hythe Bridge Street, said he came across the show when flicking through channels.

He said: “I thought there’s a TV show with our name on it’.”

He said his customers would assume a connection with his clubs and said the show’s branding had a “strong similarity” to his enterprise.

There was a move to have the case heard in a patents court but it is being heard in the High Court in front of Judge Roger Wyand QC. Mr Tughan will pay up to £750,000 to fight it.

Simon Malynicz, for Fox, said co-creator Ian Brennan picked the name for its double-meaning of slang for choir groups and “sinister joy”.