Charlotte Duly writes for World Intellectual Property Review on the Bluebird trademark dispute
In an article for World Intellectual Property Review, Charlotte Duly, Head of Brand Protection, outlines the recent Bluebird trademark dispute and shows that the answer is nearly always: put it in writing.
The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) ruled on a trademark dispute involving the Bluebird craft, associated with the late speed record breaker Donald Campbell. Bill Smith, who helped restore the Bluebird, applied for a trademark for The Bluebird Project logo, which was opposed by Campbell's nephew, Donald Wales, amid a wider dispute over the craft's ownership.
Donald showed in a successful opposition how the lack of paper trail can count against you.
Wales challenged the application, claiming it was made in bad faith due to Smith's contested ownership claim over the Bluebird K7. The IPO decision emphasised that bad faith involves dishonesty or departure from accepted commercial practices and that the lack of formal objections to prior use does not prevent later opposition.
The case lacked formal documentation of the parties' agreement, with only a vague letter referencing a "trust." Smith's failure to dispel the bad faith presumption led to the refusal of his application.
The ruling highlights the critical need for written agreements in joint ventures and the importance of solid, dated evidence in trademark oppositions. Both parties presented flawed evidence, with Wales's being "patchy" and Smith's containing inconsistencies, which were treated with caution by the IPO.
Read the full piece in World Intellectual Property Review here (subscription required).
