Red Bull Loses Trademark Case on Branding on Toy Cars in Scalextric Games
Red Bull GmbH, an Austrian energy- drink maker, lost a court bid to stop a maker of Scalextric racing games from putting its brand name on toy cars.
A court in Alicante, Spain, that frequently rules on European Union trademark cases dismissed the complaint against Tecnitoys Juguetes S.A., Tomas Fornesa a lawyer for the Barcelona-based company, said by phone. Red Bull initially sought 9 percent of game sales, he said.
Red Bull’s sponsorships in car racing have included backing Volkswagen AG’s entry in the Dakar Rally. Tecnitoys replicates the advertising logos on the racing cars. The toy-maker doesn’t make a version of the Formula One cars from Red Bull’s two Formula One teams, Fornesa said.
“Nobody buys our games for the Red Bull branding,” Fornesa said. “That would be like someone buying a Real Madrid soccer shirt because of the sponsor’s name.”
Tecnitoys and other Scalextric makers typically pay licensing fees of between 4 percent and 10 percent of sales to carmakers including McLaren Group Ltd. and Daimler AG’s Mercedes Benz to replicate their racing cars, Fornesa said.
Red Bull’s deadline to appeal has expired, Fornesa said. Tina Deutner, a spokeswoman for Fuschl am See, Austria-based Red Bull, didn’t return two e-mails seeking comment.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Duff in Madrid at aduff4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at at celser@bloomberg.net
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