While it has long claimed to give you wings, Red Bull has certainly brought a Norwich-based gin maker back down to earth after threatening it with legal action over the use of the word ‘bull’ in its name.
The international drinks firm, which is opposing an application to register the mark Bullards before the UK Intellectual Property Office, said there was a “likelihood of confusion on behalf of the public” over the apparent similarity.
Bullards’ managing director, Russell Evans, has branded the claim “ludicrous”. He told the BBC: “There is no confusion whatsoever and actually if we did concede we would be admitting there was.”
In a legal paper, Red Bull said it was willing to resolve the dispute if the gin firm removed a series of goods and services – including energy drinks, non-alcoholic beverages and events – from its trademark application and registration.
“Our client recognises that your client’s brand stems from a historical family business and so it has asked us to highlight that it does not want to prevent your client from doing anything it has historically done,” it said.
While Mr Evans accepted that Red Bull had not attempted to stop Bullards from using the name for its gin, he added that the removal of the goods and services listed in the letter would cost “thousands” and showed the firm was “trying to bully us”.
“They’re saying we can’t do events, we can’t do soft drinks, which we are going to do because we’re going to do tonics, we can’t do energy drinks – not that we would ever want to do energy drinks,” he added.
Bullards was originally founded in 1837 in Norwich, producing beer and selling imported wine and spirits, and was taken over by brewery Watneys in 1963.
While Watneys closure led to the demise of Bullards, the name was revived in 2015 by Mr Evans with a focus on handcrafted gin.
Austrian company Red Bull, which was created in 1987, has previously attempted to launch legal grievances due to apparent similarities with its name.
Eight years ago it backed down after threatening Redwell Brewing in Norwich with legal action over its name starting with ‘Red’ and ending with ‘ll’.
Red Bull has been approached for comment by i.
