CHT wrote:the report mentioned the Tony and Hunt actually strike a deal as recent as January. Does that mean that Tony's claim of owning the rights to using the brand Lotus is nothing by hot air, and that the transaction was never completed??
There you go.ESPN-F1 wrote:Hunt sold the 'Team Lotus' name to Tony Fernandes but The Telegraph reports that he is now preparing to sue the Malaysian, alleging that Fernandes has yet to pay for the name.
I suspect we'll see Fernandes heading up a team called Caterham in 2012Group Lotus has goodwill associated with the name “Lotus” in Formula 1 and is free to compete in the sport under that name using the Lotus roundel;
Group Lotus is entitled to race in F1 using the historic black and gold livery;
1MRT is in breach of the Licence granted to them by Group Lotus to race in F1 under the name Lotus Racing and has awarded Group Lotus damages in respect of that breach;
Team Lotus Ventures Limited’s trade mark registrations in the name of Team Lotus are cancelled as a result of non-use;
Group Lotus trade mark registrations are unaffected; and
Group Lotus has the right to use the Lotus marque on cars for road use.
I suspect the same thing. I suspect he will keep the GP2 team as Team AirAsia as its starting to be a strong associated team brand in GP2now, and the new GP2 is only a few races old in effect. However i can see Team Lotus being rebranded Team Caterham-Renault now. Would make sence, and if he could sell the Team Lotus rights to Group Lotus for a tidy sum, is recon that all parties would be happy.richard_leeds wrote:I see it differently.
Yes Fernandes has the sole right to own a company called "Team Lotus" in F1. However, you'll only see the word "Lotus" on the chassis list and timesheets for that team, not on the cars.
The team formerly known as Renault (ie Group Lotus) have the rights to the branding:
I suspect we'll see Fernandes heading up a team called Caterham in 2012Group Lotus has goodwill associated with the name “Lotus” in Formula 1 and is free to compete in the sport under that name using the Lotus roundel;
Group Lotus is entitled to race in F1 using the historic black and gold livery;
1MRT is in breach of the Licence granted to them by Group Lotus to race in F1 under the name Lotus Racing and has awarded Group Lotus damages in respect of that breach;
Team Lotus Ventures Limited’s trade mark registrations in the name of Team Lotus are cancelled as a result of non-use;
Group Lotus trade mark registrations are unaffected; and
Group Lotus has the right to use the Lotus marque on cars for road use.
Despite what any verdict might say, the reality is that everybody refers to the green cars as "Lotus" and the black/gold ones as "Renault"...GTO wrote:This verdit does not solve the issue of 2 F1 teams still using the same name. USELESS VERDICT!
In addition to that 50% (single largest shareholder) is owned by the owner of Naza group.I doubt he would have agreed on Team AirAsiaPandamasque wrote:Team Lotus name is a lot more helpful for attracting other sponsors, than Team Air Asia. Besides it looks like he has the legal right.CHT wrote:Tony Fernandes is just using F1 as a publicity stun to promote Airasia, he should just do what Richard Branson did and call it Team Airasia instead of Team Lotus.
I used to be very sceptical about this team a year ago, now I'm more sceptical about Group Lotus' moral right to use the Lotus name, after it has been taken over by Danny the Bear and co.