Big Horn infringed Red Bull trademarks, English High Court finds
Red Bull’s trademark was infringed by energy drink maker Big Horn, the UK’s High Court has ruled, stating that Big Horn’s logo (two rams butting heads) was similar enough to Red Bull’s (two bulls in a similar pose) for a consumer to assume there was a connection between the two companies.
“I find that Big Horn is liable for infringement of the Red Bull trade marks under article 9(2)(c) of regulation 207/2009, as amended by regulation 2015/2424, and article 9(2)(c) of the EUTMR, or European Union trade mark regulation,” said Kelyn Bacon QC, sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court, in the court documents.
The trial dealt with the actions of Mr Lyubomir Enchev (a Bulgarian national and the sole director of Big Horn), who established the company in May 2017 to sell the goods under investigation. He represented himself at the trial.
Red Bull argued that Enchev and Big Horn had infringed its rights, and that the disputed Big Horn signs “were likely to give rise to confusion on the part of the public … on the basis that the Big Horn signs took unfair advantage of the distinctive character or repute of the Red Bull trade marks”.
In his judgment, Bacon said: “In those circumstances I consider that the Big Horn signs would indeed be likely to cause the average consumer to link those signs with the Red Bull trademarks, and that the use by Big Horn of those signs takes an unfair advantage of the distinctive character and reputation of Red Bull’s trademarks.”
According to court documents, Red Bull energy drink was first launched in Austria in 1987, and has “subsequently been heavily promoted to the public and has gained worldwide recognition”. In the UK, by January 2019, Red Bull had a market share of over 30% for energy drinks.
Big Horn UK is listed on Companies House as a “Wholesaler of fruit and vegetable juices, mineral water and soft drinks”.
Back in 2015, Red Bull opposed two US trademark applications concerning the term ‘ox’, targeting the applications by Virginia-based Old Ox Brewery, claiming that customers would be confused between the two companies’ logos and names. The second opposition concerned an application to protect ‘Old Ox Brewery’ as a word mark.
Red Bull claimed at the time that its ‘Red Bull’ word mark and its logo featuring two red bulls in front of a yellow background have become “valuable assets”. They identify its energy drinks, as well as clothing, supplements and “various other products”, and distinguish it from the products and services of others, the company said.
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