Jaguar Land Rover has failed in a bid to register the shapes of versions of the Land Rover Defender as trademarks.
It had lodged a High Court appeal after making unsuccessful trademark applications to the UK Intellectual Property Office for the shapes of the Defender 90 and Defender 110.
Ineos Industries Holdings, which is producing the Grenadier 4×4, had opposed JLR’s trademark applications, and a UK Intellectual Property Office official ruled last October that the shapes lacked ‘distinctiveness’.
Dismissing JLR’s appeal yesterday (Aug 3) following a High Court hearing, Judge Melissa Clarke said in a written ruling that Jaguar Land Rover hadn’t shown that a ‘material error’ had been made by the office.
She added that the office had also refused applications to register the shapes of the Series 1 and Series 2 Defender as trademarks but Jaguar Land Rover hadn’t appealed against those decisions.
In a statement afterwards, JLR told of its disappointment at the ruling, adding that the Defender’s shape had been trademarked elsewhere.
It said: ‘The Land Rover Defender is an iconic vehicle which is part of Land Rover’s past, present and future.
‘Its unique shape is instantly recognisable and signifies the Land Rover brand around the world.’
JLR said it may yet make a further appeal, but in the meantime it means that Ineos can forge ahead with the Grenadier. It is currently holding talks with Daimler to buy a car plant it has in France to build it there, having originally said it would be made in Bridgend.
In March 2019, a Beijing court ruled that the Jiangling Motor Corporation had copied JLR’s Range Rover Evoque, saying the Evoque had five unique features duplicated in its Landwind X7.
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