London’s Court Of Appeals Rules In Favor Of Virgin Aviation In Trademark Dispute With Alaska Airlines

London’s Court Of Appeals Rules In Favor Of Virgin Aviation In Trademark Dispute With Alaska Airlines

Last year, the London High Court had held that the US airlines was entitled to royalties

The Court of Appeal in London has rejected the appeal of Alaska Airlines in a $160 million trademark case with the Virgin Group, as Judge Stephen Phillips ruled that Virgin's interpretation of the agreement was correct.

In 2023, the London High Court had held that Virgin was entitled to royalties even though the US airline no longer used the Virgin brand.

Virgin units Virgin Aviation TM Ltd and Virgin Enterprises Ltd argued that Alaska was liable to pay a $8 million ‘minimum royalty’ payment every year until 2039.

It added that a 2014 trademark licence agreement between Virgin and Virgin America Inc, which was acquired by Alaska's parent company in 2016, required the annual payment even if Alaska stopped using its branding.

In 2023, a judge at the London High Court ruled that the minimum royalty was “a flat fee payable for the right to use the Virgin brand, whether or not that right is taken up."

However, Alaska Airlines had tried to overturn the ruling. It argued that an agreement that required it to pay $8 million a year for trademarks it did not intend to use, was ‘commercially nonsensical’.