The Haas Formula One team will race without their logo after losing a court battle with UK-based Whyte Bikes, who alleged that Haas’ title sponsor, Rich Energy, not only copied their Stag’s Head Logo, but also used it without permission of the cycle brand.
The judgment handed down by UK Judge Melissa Clarke states that both StaxoWeb (the originator of the copied Rich Energy logo) and William Storey (CEO of Rich Energy) lied and deliberately misled the court regarding their knowledge of directly and knowingly copying the logo of ATB Sales Ltd (the owner of Whyte Bikes).
“I am satisfied that some of Mr. Storey’s evidence was incorrect or misleading and that he was involved in the manufacture of documents during the course of litigation to provide additional support for the Defendants’ case,” said Judge Clarke. “I do not accept either Mr. Storey or Mr. Kelly (of StaxoWeb) as credible or reliable witnesses and I treat all of their evidence with a high degree of caution. I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that both Mr. Kelly and Mr. Storey have lied about not being familiar with (Whyte’s logo). I find it more likely than not that they were familiar with it, and that they directly and knowingly copied (Whyte’s logo) in designing (Rich Energy’s logo).”
The result is that Rich Energy’s logo has been held to infringe the copyright in the Whyte logo, entitling ATB to an injunction and damages or an account of Rich Energy’s profits and, of course, the logo will not be displayed on Haas F1 cars at this weekend’s 2019 Canadian Grand Prix.
The Whyte Bikes logo and the Rich Energy logo [until last month]…
