Irn-Bru bosses have won a legal battle with a company that tried to launch a rival drink called Scots-Bru.
AG Barr, maker of the Scottish soft drink, called in lawyers after learning of the plans by Sun Mark, an English company.
Sun Mark, a distribution company run by Raminder Ranger, a Tory donor, said that it planned to launch a range of “fruit-flavoured energy drinks” under the Scots-Bru name.
AG Barr, which is based in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, accused Sun Mark of trying to “ride upon the coat tails” of its success and Scottish heritage. It claimed that the imitation product would be a threat to its business, which has sales of £120 million a year.
Sun Mark disputed its claims and said that Scots-Bru would be a different type of product.
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It also claimed that the average customer would not associate the word “Bru” with the drink but as the French word for daughter-in-law.
The matter came to a head at a hearing of the UK Intellectual Property Office, which rules on trademark disputes, after Sun Mark applied to register Scots-Bru as a brand name.
George Salthouse, the trademark officer, ruled in favour of AG Barr. He said: “AG Barr have provided evidence of use of the trademark Bru. To my mind, this is sufficient for AG Barr to show that it has goodwill in the mark Bru and overcome the first hurdle.
“Conceptually, Sun Mark Ltd contends that AG Barr’s mark will be seen as having the meaning of a daughter-in-law. I do not accept that.
“It is well documented that the average UK consumer lacks linguistic ability in foreign languages. The term ‘bru’ will not, I believe, be one which is recognised as being the French for ‘daughter-in-law’. It will be seen for what it is, a misspelling of the word ‘brew’ as in concoction/drink or bevvy.”
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Stephen Taylor, AG Barr’s solicitor, produced evidence at the hearing chronicling Irn-Bru’s history and international fame, including its sponsorship of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, photos of celebrities with cans of Irn-Bru and its “Snowman” television advert.
Sun Mark, which is based in Middlesex, has been ordered to pay AG Barr £2,900 to cover the company’s costs.
A spokesman for AG Barr said: “We’re pleased with the decision. We registered our first trademark for Irn Bru in 1946 and since then have always taken steps to protect the Bru brand where necessary.”
Sun Mark declined to comment.
In 2012, Sun Mark lost a High Court case with the company that sells Red Bull, the energy drink.
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Red Bull, an Austrian company, claimed that Sun Mark had infringed trademarks by naming a drink Bullet and using the advertising slogan “No bull in this can”.
The judge in that case, Mr Justice Arnold, said that Sun Mark’s use of Bullet created a “clear likelihood of confusion”, and added that the “No bull” slogan took “unfair advantage of the repute of Red Bull”.