The Vanwall brand is now owned by Colin Kolles, at least as far as racing cars are concerned. The decision was made by the Appellate Board of the European Union Property Office, which ruled in favour of PMC GmbH in the proceedings against Sanderson International Marketing Limited, owned by former speedboat racer Iain Sanderson.
Kolles and SIM had been arguing since 2021 over who had the right to use the name within the European Union, with the latter having acquired the rights to the Vanwall trademark from Dana Corporation in 2012. Under international law, a trademark must be used commercially for a period of five years to keep its rights intact.
Kolles’ lawyers then attacked the trademark in 2021, seeking the cancellation of Sanderson’s trademark in several regions around the world. In Australia, SIM’s trademark has already been cancelled. However, the biggest controversy has been in the European Union, the main market for both Vanwall brands.
Such a dispute is not a court case, but an administrative procedure, and the 22-page ruling has been made available to our German colleagues at Motorsport-Total.com.
It should also be noted that this case only involved a claim by Kolles’ lawyers against Sanderson’s trademark and not the other way around. Sanderson, meanwhile, attacked PMC GmbH’s Vanwall trademark. However, these proceedings have been suspended since July 2022, pending a final decision on Sanderson’s trademark.
#4 Floyd Vanwall Racing Team Vanwall Vandervell 680: Esteban Guerrieri, Tristan Vautier, Ryan Briscoe
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The ruling does not mean automatic re-entry into the WEC
In the first instance, in February 2023 it was decided that SIM could retain the rights to the name “Vanwall” for racing vehicles. This is the so-called Class 12 – “Vehicles; apparatus for locomotion by land, air or water; touring cars; sports cars; sports cars sold in kit form; racing cars; […] motor vehicles; racing cars […]”. SIM retained rights to the road and racing vehicles.
The British media concluded that Sanderson had already won and questioned Vanwall’s participation in the 2023 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season. However, this was never in question, as SIM’s attack on Kolles’ brand was put on “pause”.
However, Kolles and his lawyers were not satisfied with the result, as they wanted to achieve the complete cancellation of the SIM trademarks in all categories, especially in the aforementioned Class 12. Now they have succeeded.
In any case, it is not yet certain that Vanwall will be able to return to the WEC in 2025. This is a decision taken by the WEC selection committee of the organiser ACO and the FIA. The WEC already has a grid capacity problem, partly due to the new rule that each manufacturer must field two hypercars per race.
The uncertain situation of the brand, however, may have played a role in Vanwall’s refusal to enter the 2024 WEC, alongside performance-related reasons, which Vanwall attributes to the underpowered Gibson engine.
In April, Kolles announced that he would return with two revamped Vanwall Vandervell 680s. The hypercar will be converted to the Pipo turbo engine that powered the Glickenhaus 007 in 2021 and 2022. In any case, the current ruling is likely to improve rather than worsen Kolles’ chances.
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