Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. has lost a bid to hang a $130 million verdict on Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP) in a trademark jury trial Jaguar was seeking all of the profits from a BRP off-road vehicle called the Can-Am Defender, contending that BRP was infringing Jaguar’s mark on its Defender SUV. Jaguar called Defender “the heart and soul of the Land Rover brand,” though the company has not marketed the vehicle to U.S. consumers since 1998.
A federal court jury in Detroit apparently concluded that there was no likelihood of consumer confusion. “That was the fundamental dispute in the case,” said Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partner Louis Tompros, who led BRP’s trial team “We are pleased that the jury recognized the Can-Am Defender as a unique and distinctive product,” Martin Langelier, BRP’s general counsel, said in a written statement.
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