A judge has thrown out a legal bid to prevent a publisher from using the trademarked "Tartan Army" name on a magazine.

Businessmen Bob Shields and Don Lawson own the trademark for the informal name given to Scottish football fans.

They believed that publisher Ian Emerson's Alba Football Fans Ltd breached the trademark by publishing a magazine called the "Famous Tartan Army Magazine".

Former Daily Record journalist Mr Shields and Mr Lawson instructed lawyers to go to the Court of Session in a bid to recover £300,000 in damages and obtain an interdict against the rival company to stop it using the Tartan Army name.

Lawyers acting for Mr Shields and Mr Lawson argued that consumers reading the online magazine would think they were behind its publication.

But in a judgement issued at the Court of Session on Friday, Lord Glennie dismissed Mr Shields' and Mr Lawson's arguments.

The judge concluded Mr Emerson was entitled to use the Famous Tartan Army Magazine name.

Lord Glennie ruled: "I consider that most potential customers or consumers, being Scotland fans or, to put it another way, members of the Tartan Army, would understand the name of the magazine to refer to them (and the magazine to be for them) rather than as a reference to the pursuers or its products.

"In those circumstances, the claim in passing off fails."

Glasgow businessman Ian Adie registered Tartan Army as a trademark in 1996, giving him sole rights to use it on merchandise.

He sold his business, Tartan Army Limited, to Mr Shields and Mr Lawson in 2006 and they took ownership of the trademark.

In 2015, the two businessmen launched a £300,000 damages claim at the Court of Session against Mr Emerson, whose company is based in Stirling.

During the case, Lord Glennie noted that Chick Young and Archie McPherson were "witnesses" in the case.

Writing about Mr Young, Lord Glennie said he had spent 47 years working in journalism. Summarising his evidence, Lord Glennie wrote: "Charles (or Chick) Young has worked for over 47 years in journalism, for most of that time in football journalism.

"He associated the term the 'Tartan Army' with supporters of the Scotland football team. The idea of anyone owning the phrase "Tartan Army" was ridiculous."

Lord Glennie wrote that Mr MacPherson was "not aware of 'Tartan Army' being a registered trademark."

In his judgement, the judge explained: "Long before the application for the trademarks, the Tartan Army was famous, in the sense that it had a nationwide perhaps worldwide reputation.

"To that extent, the addition of the word 'famous' before Tartan Army is not unimportant. It is not an insignificant detail which the average purchaser or customer would not notice.

"In my opinion, the defender's magazine title cannot be said to be identical with the pursuer's trademark.

"The claim for infringement therefore fails."