24 replies to this topic

[Body stylist]

We have just had it confirmed by the recievers that the Domino Cars are now NO LONGER AVAILABLE
The receivers have salvaged a selection of mould components, however there is not a complete set for any of the models. It appears that they have been destroyed and skipped.
Therefore, no bodyshells can be produced.

[CharlieBrown]

Seems such a waste of the moulds!

Another part of mini history down the drain

[Body stylist]

Seems such a waste of the moulds!

Another part of mini history down the drain

Its a huge waste

we had put a deal together to buy them in december, the recievers never knew!!!

there are few sections there, but no full set

[wayneb911]

Surely if the demand was that great they could be reproduced from a steel shell anyway?

[Body stylist]

Surely if the demand was that great they could be reproduced from a steel shell anyway?

lol, you tell bmw that

the domino was the ONLY shell that could be produced and had documentation to confirm that from rover.

[wayneb911]

Surely if the demand was that great they could be reproduced from a steel shell anyway?

lol, you tell bmw that

the domino was the ONLY shell that could be produced and had documentation to confirm that from rover.

So would that now be a case of contacting them for the rights now they are not in existance? Also what with the block exemption issues etc can you not now produce them anyway?

[Dan]

BMW own the rights for anything even remotely connected to the Mini and they won't release anything to anyone. BMH Ltd administer the rights for reproduction of parts and use of trademarks but producing any kind of copy bodyshell from scratch is not allowed. Domino had an existing agreement but what with them closing down and not taking any care of their products or tooling that is all over. As above it's a great shame.

Body Stylist, have you looked into what agreements might exist regarding the Mini Cord bodyshell? That was a genuine, Rover badged original equipment GRP body so there must be some legal standing for it. Of course I'd guess if the moulds exist they are in South America somewhere so getting use of them would be tricky!

[wayneb911]

I thoight that they only had the rights to the name, being that they do not supply Rover parts? Correct me if i am wrong.

i used to work for Rover and when they split from Unipart all there parts production went to Caterpillar so it could be worth looking into. I dont think they bought the rights to the original shape mini itself as rover still stands and the fact that the company was bought out surely it lies with the new owner? After all they will be the ones reposible for part supply.

[Amy]

So what is this all about then:

TMF thread


Should have checked, you have already replied to the thread today Ignore me!

Edited by Amy, 19 March 2008 - 01:52 PM.

[Dan]

Nope. BMW own everything Mini. They owned the whole of MG Rover when they bought it from British Aerospace. MG Rover was what remained of Austin Rover, which was what remained of British Leyland etc. etc. It was BMW who decided to split Rover/MG and a couple of other trademarks off from the rest of the organisation and sell it to Pheonix under the name Rover Cars and contrary to what you said Rover does not still stand. The name and some trademarks and designs are all that remains and are now the wholely owned property of a Chinese manufacturer. Rover is dead.

The Caterpillar parts link is due partly to Ford buying Land Rover but Caterpillar only handle supply chain for Mini parts they don't make them. Unipart still exists and makes most parts but they stopped shipping and supplying them because they were terrible at it and Rover dealers were not getting the parts they needed, this was something to do with Ford but I can't remember exactly how it all happened.

BMW own the trademark on the general shape of the Mini body, the names of the cars and models, all the valid patents and any other intellectual property. There is a list of what BMW owns in relation to the Mini in the FAQ section. How do you think they are able to cause so much hassle to Mini traders if they don't own everything?

Edited by Dan, 19 March 2008 - 02:00 PM.

[Jammy]

I've heard there is a clause in the trademark agreement that says if you've been making something for 6 years without challenge, then you can't be touched in affect, because the trademark owner has taken too long to do anything about it?

[wayneb911]

I've heard there is a clause in the trademark agreement that says if you've been making something for 6 years without challenge, then you can't be touched in affect, because the trademark owner has taken too long to do anything about it?

Jammy iwqs about to come to that also. Also if it is the case that they hold all rights then how can this be made??

http://www.bmh-ltd.com/minishell.htm

These have never been part of the Rover group from what i understand and since it was originaly a BMH vehcle would they not own the rights to this??

[Dan]

Oh yes there is no way that any of the BMW owned trademarks are still valid or would stand up in court because Rover simply didn't protect them at all. If you don't protect a trademark then it becomes invalid. The problem is that BMW have lots of very expensive lawyers on retainer and can afford to sue people, which is scary. They are paying their lawyers not to take people to court but to keep them out of court with threats, stalling and delays. If anyone ever accepted the challenge there is a good chance that BMW would loose but there is always a small chance that they would win and the financial award would be massive so people just don't want to risk it. If BMW ever did loose they would then go after British Aerospace and the British government for mis-selling MG Rover to them by suggesting that these rights were still in place when they knew it was not the case. So even the government has a good reason to keep BMW in control of this. Realistically there is nobody who is going to win this in court.

[stickycreambun]

bit of a rock/hardplace type deal is it not. sad really, the end users are the ones who suffer, whilst the predators (BMW) gain...not very much.

[Dan]

Read what I wrote above, BMH Ltd are BMWs representative in this country and administer all the rights. They pay BMW for the rights to produce these shells as they are replacement original parts and they pay for the rights to everything else too. Mini Spares, Mini Sport and the others all pay BMH Ltd in turn for the rights they need to use. BMW like producing parts for their old cars, they have a very large heritage organisation of their own. If BMW didn't exist and Rover alone were still in control it is doubtful that BMH Ltd would still exist at all. After all one of the last things Rover did while still under their own control was to shut down the Special Tuning section and without BMW ownership Rover would have stopped producing the Mini in 1996.

This is all really old news and I'm amazed how there is always someone who doubts it when it gets posted here. Please read the FAQ, that's why it's there.