American Formula 1 team Haas must remove title sponsor Rich Energy’s logo from its cars following a court ruling against the energy drink company.
Judge Melissa Clarke of the UK High Court ruled in mid-May that Rich Energy’s stag logo infringed Whyte Bikes’ logo.
Rich Energy asked Haas to remove the infringing logo from its car prior to the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
In a tweet, Rich Energy stated: “Whilst we own the stag trademarks and registrations worldwide including Canada, we don’t want any media circus for [the] team whilst we contest baseless case with Whyte Bikes and win.”
Rich Energy’s CEO William Storey and StaxoWeb’s Sean Kelly, who designed the logo in conjunction with Rich Energy, were found to have “lied and deliberately misled the court, and that they directly and knowingly copied Whyte Bikes’ logo”..
Rich Energy is now the subject of an injunction which prevents it from using the infringing logo.
Peter Nunn, legal director at Mishcon de Reya, commented: “The High Court ruled last month that Rich Energy’s stag’s head logo had been intentionally copied from a very similar-looking logo used by Whyte Bikes, and so infringed the copyright in Whyte Energy’s logo.”
“Although the court will not decide until later this month whether to grant an injunction preventing Rich Energy from using the logo, the drinks brand has clearly decided to lessen its exposure to damages by asking the Haas F1 team to remove the logo from its cars now.”
