F1 sues Singapore drinks firm
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FORMULA One sued Speed Drinks Pte for selling a F1 Racing Energy Drink in Singapore, host of the first night race of the world's most-watched motor sport, asking for damages and for the drinks to be destroyed, reported Bloomberg news on Thursday.
Formula One Licensing BV accused Speed Drinks of passing off the beverage bearing a circled checkered 'F1' logo and the slogan 'Start Your Engine' as a beverage licensed by it, according to a lawsuit filed in the Singapore High Court. Judge Judith Prakash is scheduled to hear the case privately on Thursday.
Speed Drinks, which imports the beverage from Holland and distributes it in Asia, denies any wrongdoing and said in court papers that Formula One was trying to assert a claim to the generic term 'F1.' The logo and other marks used on the drink can are also legitimately registered in Holland and several other countries by the Dutch principal and differs from the trademark owned by Formula One, company director Ashok Murthy said in his affidavit.
Formula One, controlled by Bernie Ecclestone, said Speed Drinks' actions would hinder its future attempts to license the use of the 'F1' mark on beverages, according to court papers. Speed Drinks, which also directs users to the official F1 Web site caused 'irreparable damage to the reputation and goodwill' of the brand, Formula One said in the documents.
The motor sport owner has mounted several challenges to protect its trademark. In 2007, the group failed to win exclusive rights to the F1 abbreviation after the UK Trademark Registry said the public associated Formula One with a sport rather than a brand name. A year earlier, Formula One won a fight in a Beijing court to stop eight Chinese fashion companies from selling apparel with the 'F1 Jeans' trademark.
Speed Drinks' beverage was first sold in Singapore during Formula One's own grand prix last year and was the official drink at concerts including one by Welsh rock band Stereophonics, Murthy said in his court filing. Singapore is paying about $200 million over five years for the rights to stage the event to promote itself as a business and leisure destination.
-- ST
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sometimes, ecclestone's a douchebag...
actually.. almost all the time, he's a douchebag..
okay okay.. i lie.. he's 100% a douchebag
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He's a money-grubbing poison dwarf, the reason why there aren't any recent F1 videos or recordings on Youtube and why there is won't be HD telecasts anytime soon.
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Originally posted by the Bear:
the sport !sometimes, ecclestone's a douchebag...
actually.. almost all the time, he's a douchebag..
okay okay.. i lie.. he's 100% a douchebag
Ecclestone is a Jew, eh ?
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Originally posted by Asromanista2001:
Ecclestone is a Jew, eh ?
who cares?you're a twisted racist semi-sentient barbarian, eh?
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seems that the Jews are always involved in all things bad.
boy was i glad Ecclestone's ex-wife made off with 1 Billion of his money, he put money under her name to evade tax !
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He's English...
And he's not the only person who's evading taxes - just look at the hordes of celebs and sports stars living in Monaco and Switzerland.