Lotus vs Lotus legal battle ends in a draw

Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal, Lotus



Say what you will about the state of Formula 1 racing today, but at least when the day is done, there's a winner and there are losers. The drawn-out legal battle between Group Lotus and Team Lotus, however, has come to a rather anticlimactic resolution.

As you may recall, Group Lotus (that is, the car manufacturer and engineering consultancy) licensed its name to a Malaysian racing team a couple of years ago. That team then turned around and independently acquired the name Team Lotus from a third party. Group Lotus cried bloody murder and terminated its agreement with the team, who in turn did not relent. Then Group Lotus entered into a partnership with the Renault team (which also powers the Team Lotus cars), resulting in two teams carrying the name Lotus-Renault and a whole lot of confusion.

Unable to resolve the issue, the two outfits went to court, and having heard both sides, the judge has rendered his verdict. Of sorts. Justice Peter Smith found both parties in the right, and declared, essentially, that while the name Lotus belongs rightfully to the automaker, the name Team Lotus - deemed to have been separately cultivated, and neglected for years by the automaker - rightfully belongs to the Malaysian racing team, which acquired the name. The judge also ruled that Team Lotus had breached certain terms of its contract with Group Lotus, and awarded the latter damages to be paid by the former.

At the end of the day, Team Lotus has the legal right to continue using its name, while Group Lotus has the right - both within F1 and without - to the name Lotus by itself. Which hardly makes the matter any more clear, though the automaker is expected to appeal the decision. Follow the jump for statements from both parties.Continue reading Lotus vs Lotus legal battle ends in a draw

Lotus vs Lotus legal battle ends in a draw originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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