Max Verstappen is well known as a person - not as a brand

Jake Archibald, http://www.jakearchibald.com

Our Dutch pride, Max Verstappen, is again leading the ranks in Formula 1.

In a recent opposition decision case, the Benelux Trademarks Office saw Max Verstappen challenge the displayed SUPER MAX logo based on his trademarks for MAX and MAXVERSTAPPEN. He also invoked the well-known status of MAX VERSTAPPEN as a trademark.

In the opinion of the Benelux Office, however, it was not proven that MAX VERSTAPPEN is a well-known brand (for clothing, etc.). The Benelux Office did agree that he is a well-known person, but that is not sufficient to invoke the well-known status of MAX VERSTAPPEN as a trademark. The evidence did not sufficiently demonstrate that MAX VERSTAPPEN was recognized and used as an independent and well-known trademark.

Additionally, he could not invoke his MAX trademark against this trademark as the invoices and other material he used as evidence of use only showed sales under the names MAX VERSTAPPEN, VERSTAPPEN, or VERSTAPPENTRAVEL. This did not sufficiently prove the use of the element MAX as a standalone trademark. The fact that sometimes the MAX element in MAX VERSTAPPEN was displayed in bold was not sufficient to establish that he separately used MAX as a trademark.

Furthermore, bad faith on the part of the other side could not be claimed successfully. The applicant argued that the defendant had filed several trademark applications and, by doing so, was attempting to benefit from the success and reputation of Max Verstappen. However, bad faith cannot be addressed in opposition proceedings and must be assessed by a judge or during a cancellation procedure.

So, while MAX VERSTAPPEN will likely be successful again this F1 season and is indeed SUPERMAX for us Dutch, he was not successful in acting against this Benelux trademark SUPERMAX before the Benelux Office.

Author: Erik Stegeman

Bio: Erik Stegeman is a trademark attorney and specialist in trademark protection for bands, DJs and artists. His client portfolio includes many famous DJ’s like Charlotte de Witte, Swedish House Maffia and Tiësto. He writes a lot about music trademark infringements. And if you are lucky, he will give you hints on the latest band and DJ’s.