When I hear the word BENTLEY I immediately think of the car brand, but when it comes to clothing, the English High Court of Justice has decided that the BENTLEY brand belongs to the family owned company – Brandlogic.

By way of background, the BENTLEY mark used by Brandlogic was registered in relation to clothing related products. Brandlogic has been using the BENTLEY mark for clothing from about 1962, where as Bentley Motors has been using the BENTLEY mark in relation to cars for about 100 years and developed its own clothing line about 20 years after Brandlogic began its operation.

Based on the trade mark registrations, Brandlogic instituted proceedings against Bentley Motors in an attempt to stop their use of the BENTLEY mark for clothing related products. This fight has seemingly been brewing for a while.

With the above in mind, fast forward to 2019, the court considered both sides’ arguments and decided that there was a likelihood that consumers could be confused by the BENTLEY marks and handed a win to Brandlogic. Bentley Motors will still be entitled to continue using the mark in relation to the sale of jackets, silk ties, caps and scarves, because of previous laws that came into play, but will not be entitled to use the mark for any other types of clothing or headgear. Further, Bentley Motors is entitled to advertise and market the goods using literature which bears the BENTLEY mark but will not be allowed to use the mark on the actual products themselves or on any tags or material attached to the products.

It remains to be seen whether Bentley Motors will take this matter on Appeal.

My personal take aways from this case:

1. If I was a trade mark owner, I would be sure to conduct searches before using any mark.

2. I would make sure to protect any of my important marks because it comes with some serious power.

I wonder whether Louis Vuitton or Marvel (Black Panther) knew the words on the Lesotho Coat of Arms or any other important aspect of the Basotho culture when the Lesotho Blankets inspired designer shirts and were featured in the Black Panther movie.

Many of you may have seen Louis Vuitton’s Basotho inspired shirt or that “wow moment” when the Basotho blankets became shields in the Black Panther movie. As you read this you may probably be wondering why I am speaking about what could be considered to be “old news”. The simple answer is it allows me to introduce myself.

I am a Mosotho woman, who loves her Lesotho heritage and has a keen interest in fashion. A few years ago, I considered pursuing fashion designing part-time while continuing to pursue my career as an IP (Intellectual Property) Attorney. This came about because some of the clothes that I wear, particularly my winter coats and traditional dresses, I tend to design and get made by tailors in Lesotho. I quickly realized that being an IP Attorney did not allow me the time that I wanted to follow that passion. I then started wondering how I could combine my two passions (IP law and fashion) and that is how  blogging came about.

When I first saw the Louis Vuitton’s Basotho Blanket inspired shirt, I wondered whether there may have been discussions with the Copyright holder/s of the works which may subsist in the Blankets, whether any agreements were signed or whether any royalties were decided on. Should there have been discussions or agreements at all?By way of giving some perspective, the shirt is rumored to retail at about R33 000, while Basotho blankets which are rich in cultural heritage retail for about R1000.

Soon thereafter, Marvel released Black Panther. A headline that I recall seeing was “Black Panther made Basotho blankets world famous”.

My hope in such cases is that IP rights holders (specifically in the fashion industry) educate themselves on the importance of their IP rights, that they become aware of the rights that they have at their disposal and that they begin to ensure that the works that they create are protected.

In my view, one should be very careful in operating in the fashion industry without being aware of one’s IP rights. You could create the next best fashion design, brand, etc. and it could be misappropriated because you were not aware that  you could protect it.