10:15 am, May 19, 2021
The man aiming to revive Bristol Cars with continuation models and then an EV has hit back after the joint liquidator said he doesn’t own the intellectual property rights.
Investor and property developer Jason Wharton, who owns Bristol Manufacturing Ltd, has told Car Dealer that he plans to write to Frost Group to say that the statement it issued was ‘verging on the misleading, possibly indeed irresponsible’.
Car Dealer reported yesterday (May 18) how Frost Group had said it could ‘categorically state’ that Wharton had not bought any intellectual property rights (IPR), despite what he’d said.
It added: ‘What he has done is sought to revoke some BCL [Bristol Cars Ltd] trademarks for want of use.
‘Such action has been objected to by us as joint liquidators of BCL and by Kamkorp Autokraft Limited, the owner of the trademarks in question.’
Car Dealer contacted Wharton for a comment and he replied, saying: ‘We continue our revival efforts, including the removal of the trademark registrations, simply as they were not used.
‘We just don’t know what, if any, IPR Bristol Cars Ltd actually owned. I am not sure the liquidators know either.’
He also claimed that Frost Group wasn’t the joint liquidator of Bristol Cars, even though a document on the Companies House website shows that Frost Group was appointed to the position on February 3, 2020.
Jason Wharton
Wharton, 53, adds that Frost Group hadn’t given any ‘status or qualitative information about IPR ownership, so it has no useful purpose’.
However, Frost Group said the sale of the IPR for the continuation models was being dealt with by its agent Wyles Hardy, who was holding discussions with various interested parties.
Wharton stated: ‘Bristol Manufacturing Limited, and its wholly owned subsidiaries, are engaged in the commercial revival of the Bristol Cars brand and marque.
‘They own certain intangible intellectual property rights, as well as certain tangible assets, such as chassis, jigs, parts & patterns.
‘Bristol Cars is the brand, trading style and registered trademark of Bristol Fighter Limited and its parent Bristol Manufacturing Limited, and collectively the brand and marque are now found on domain www.bristolcars.com.’
Car Dealer has contacted Frost Group for a comment.
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