Posted Monday 20th January 2020
The recent High Court case of Bentley 1962 Ltd -v- Bentley Motors Ltd [2019], highlighted the importance of protecting your intellectual property and the power of trademarks.
Bentley 1962 Ltd, also known as Brandlogic and Bentley clothing (a small family-run business), had been using the mark BENTLEY on their clothing since 1962. Bentley clothing currently owns three UK trademarks, under class 25 (clothing, footwear and headwear) for the word mark and figurative mark, BENTLEY, being the dominant component of their trademark. After a long two year battle, despite Bentley Motors’ attempt to cancel Bentley Clothing’s trademark, Bentley Motors lost their case for infringing their BENTLEY trademark.
Bentley Motors are now no longer able to use the trademark BENTLEY.
The case emphasised that in spite of the size or reputation of the company, an infringing company will not be allowed to weaken another company’s intellectual property rights by slowly encroaching on its rights, especially in a deliberate way, as was found here. The key message is that all brands need to ensure that they have locked down their intellectual property rights and have any appropriate licences in place, in order to avoid costly litigation.
We can help you with all aspects of your intellectual property from registration, through to licensing and infringement. If you need any help, do get in touch.
This article is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking or deciding not to take any action.
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