30 replies to this topic

[Bungle]

just beetles has gone the same way

http://www.volkszone...ad.php?t=746686

[Artful Dodger]

its a shame. why do they have to do this?

[Bungle]

money their name and they want all the money the brand earns for them selves

[Artful Dodger]

they have got to remember where their brand name came from. the reason so many people like and know mini is back when thy were being produced every single person either owned or knew someone who owned a mini. same for beetle in VW. just not as prominent in this country

[Bungle]

it was the people that named the VW type 1 the beetle not VW

[mab01uk]

As they made over 21 million (21,529,464) type 1 'Beetles' I guess there are a lot of classic Beetle owners and companies worldwide for VW to upset...........

Edited by mab01uk, 25 November 2011 - 08:40 PM.

[Cooperman]

It was interesting that the smaller companies with 'Mini' names just gave up, like Minis-Bristol-Minis and others, whilst the ell-established companies like Mini Spares & Mini Sport just ignored it all (so far as we know) and carried on without much further interference. How BMW could claim to own the word Mini is beyond anyone's understanding. one might suspect that any UK court would have laughed them out of the door. Mini Sport, for example, was founded back in the 60's.
Actually when I was a wee lad I had a hand cranked cine projector called a 'Mini-Cini'. That was the first time Mini ever came into my life. How on earth can BMW claim to own a word. What about Mary Quant and the Mini Skirt (a much better invention than the Mini-Cini!). There was a small French aircraft called the 'SIPA Mini Jet' in the 50's.
Did BMW actually take anyone to court, or was it all 'bluff & bluster'?

[firefox]

I would like to know who the hell won the bloody war

[DeanP]

Apparently anything Mini or Beetle that has anything to do with automotives, VW and BMW have every right to ask people to stop using their name. BMW, when it owned Rover Group, told all Morris Minor part suppliers to cease using the name "Morris" or else. Once ownership changed the new owners of the Morris name weren't bothered who used it. It seems the Germans are very strict, unnecessary and quite cruel I believe, as it is free advertising essentially.

A local sandwich shop in Birmingham has had the same treatment....

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ingham-15825960

again.. quite unnecessary in these hard times.

[mab01uk]

It was interesting that the smaller companies with 'Mini' names just gave up, like Minis-Bristol-Minis and others, whilst the ell-established companies like Mini Spares & Mini Sport just ignored it all (so far as we know) and carried on without much further interference. How BMW could claim to own the word Mini is beyond anyone's understanding. one might suspect that any UK court would have laughed them out of the door. Mini Sport, for example, was founded back in the 60's.
Actually when I was a wee lad I had a hand cranked cine projector called a 'Mini-Cini'. That was the first time Mini ever came into my life. How on earth can BMW claim to own a word. What about Mary Quant and the Mini Skirt (a much better invention than the Mini-Cini!). There was a small French aircraft called the 'SIPA Mini Jet' in the 50's.
Did BMW actually take anyone to court, or was it all 'bluff & bluster'?

I believe all the major Mini companies like Minispares and Minisport are now officially licensed by BMH on behalf of BMW:
http://www.bmh-ltd.com/trademarks.htm

‘Mini’ and ‘Cooper’ are trademarks owned by BMW AG, Austin and Morris are trademarks owned by Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation. A license agreement is required from British Motor Heritage for the production of ‘Mini’ parts and all uses of the ‘Austin’ and ‘Morris’ trademarks. Applications must be made to BMW AG for a license to use ‘Mini’ or ‘Cooper’ trademarks.
http://www.bmh-ltd.c...emarks/mini.htm

Edited by mab01uk, 25 November 2011 - 09:26 PM.

[Pigeonto]

I do hope they treat the bit about paying VW's costs with the contempt which it deserves, do as requested otherwise but dont pay fgs.

[mab01uk]

Ex-editor of Miniworld magazine Monty Watkins interviewed John Yea Managing Director of BMH (British Motor Heritage Ltd) about this topic in the Summer 2010 edition.

Extracts from MW article below:
"John Yea of BMH defends BMW's policy on protecting the Mini brand saying they have put a lot of effort into the BMH company when it was privatised in 2001 and facilitated the move of Mini tooling to BMH with their full encouragement, permitting the continued supply of bodyshells and genuine replacement body panels and subframes. He thinks a lot of classic Mini people are being misled. BMW have a lot of respect for the Classic Mini and they have tried very hard to get their managers to understand. They are very concerned how they are perceived by the classic Mini world but the Mini brand is extremely important and must be protected against imitations. A lot of genuine parts are no longer available and people should be ashamed at some of the stuff thats out there. For example, the genuine Rover Mini subframes had a minimum number of spotwelds deemed to be safe, researched in much detail. Cheap aftermarket copies have fewer spotwelds and people need protecting from this. Part of our role is to assist BMW, Licensing is to maintain quality. The problem we have now is that an awful lot of stuff is coming in from super cheap sources. BMW lawyers are looking for abuses of the logos and the brand and legal letters are intentionally intimidating, clearly stating the rights being contravened. If you get the letter please stop selling and tell us who manufactures the products in question. Manufacturers should come to BMH to assess the quality of the product, if quality is good enough but sales very small, we would probably charge a peppercorn sum, rather than a percentage of the wholesale price. Small scale makers should come and talk to us first if quality is good."

BMW must approve use of Mini trademarks and logos, Triumph and Riley are also retained by BMW.
Nanjing in China need to approve anything Austin, Morris, Wolseley and MG.
Tata in India own Land Rover and also own the Rover brand (originally bought off BMW by Ford).

BMH - Marques, Trade Marks, Copyright & Part Numbers:
http://www.bmh-ltd.c...marks-useof.htm

British Motor Heritage Limited is the licensee of a number of famous British classic car marques.
Each of these marques has a unique identity made up of outstanding qualities or values for which it is recognised and are expressed through a variety of names, emblems and other designs used for the various models which make up the history of a particular marque.
As an example, for MG there is the MG name, the famous MG Octagon badge, and model names such as MGB and Midget, whilst for Mini there is the name Mini and Mini Cooper and the shield emblem together with the wings logo and the original vehicle shape.

[Cooperman]

Thanks for that. I'd never seen it before. If you had lost as much monet with the acquisition of the crap Rover Group, then an opportunity to claw back a bit with the name MINI would be attractive. Still, it did/does seem a bit draconian to try to make long established English Limited Companies change their names or pay them loads of money to use the English word 'Mini' in any context.

[Frisco]

It does seem a bit cruel but they pay big money for the brand name so they have a right to protect it and the businesses using it are gaining off the back of existing branding (new or old)
I dont think they claim to own the word mini but they do own the rights to its use in relation to cars or parts.

You would think they had better things to do with their time and money though.

I would like to know who the hell won the bloody war

What has that got to do with anything?

[mini-luke]

It does seem a bit cruel but they pay big money for the brand name so they have a right to protect it and the businesses using it are gaining off the back of existing branding (new or old)
I dont think they claim to own the word mini but they do own the rights to its use in relation to cars or parts.

You would think they had better things to do with their time and money though.

Right, so if you'd been trading as the hypothetical company Bristol Mini's for the past 35 years, to receive a letter from BMW telling you to cease immediately as they own the Marque Mini, you be OK with that? Despite BMW having nothing to do with classic Mini's at all.