“Wings”
Trademark disputes are quite interesting to cover. On the one hand, there are the outright copycats who deserve to be served, while on the other hand, there are more finicky situations, such as the one that Geely finds itself entangled in.
Aston Martin is suing Geely because the Chinese brand’s new badge looks a little too similar to Aston Martin’s classic wings logo. Bentley may have wings on its logo, but it’s nowhere near the shape of Aston Martin’s. You could argue the same for the London Electric Vehicle Company’s emblem as well.
London Electric Vehicle Company
Too Similar?
The dispute was served to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group by Aston Martin, arguing that the new logos that the Chinese brand wants to use on its cars are too close in design to the British marque’s famous wings emblem.
Geely plans to use its new “Aston-like” logo for its London taxi subsidiary, London EV company. Whereas Aston’s logo is slim and has the brand’s name on it, Geely’s “copy” features a horse’s head in the center of the wings, and it’s a much fatter set of flappers to boot.
Different enough, but not dissimilar enough to – potentially – confuse buyers. You could say that Aston has a case if you consider the logos alone. However, would you really confuse an electric taxi with a wings logo for an Aston Martin?
London Electric Vehicle Company
Since 2022
The Telegraph reported that the dispute was first filed in 2022, when Geely attempted to register the logos with the U.K.’s intellectual property office. In 2023, Aston Martin blocked this, stating that the Chinese automaker infringed on its logo design. The court ruled in Geely’s favor, however.
Again, the argument was that car buyers are unlikely to mistake an EV taxi for an Aston Martin. In the following year, Geely bought a 17-percent stake in Aston Martin for $310 million, putting it squarely on the list of majority shareholders. Ironically, Aston Martin also “lost” James Bond to BYD – in a manner of speaking. The addition of Aston Martin to Geely’s portfolio during this time is only one of the few British brands the Chinese company has managed to secure, which also includes Lotus.
Even if Geely owns part of Aston Martin, the brand isn’t backing down and still wants to block the logos. The British brand declined to discuss the case further, while Geely stated that it’s just a routine trademark dispute. Despite the kerfuffle, Geely is committed to maintaining a professional relationship with Aston Martin as a business partner and part-owner.
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