The Frazer Nash Trademark

28th Jan 2013

Since John Aldington's death in 2007 the Archives have continued his work in trying to regain control of the Frazer Nash trademark. Members will recall that the mark has been registered to Porsche, since their takeover of AFN Ltd, although a mysterious German, Herr Dieckmann, appears to have registered the mark in the EU.

The first move was to secure the name under Section 41, which covers Club Services, and this was followed in 2009 by registration of the Frazer Nash mark in the UK under Section 12 - 'Motor cars and fittings for motor cars'. Last year it was also possible to register the mark to cover all countries in the EU. This has been achieved without encountering opposition from either Porsche or Herr Dieckmann. Although the Archives have initiated and funded these applications, the registrations have been in the name of the Club; this is in part due to the strong position of the Club in producing spares through Frazer Nash Limited.

The final move has been registration of the GN mark and logo, which was successfully achieved a few weeks ago. The 'ownership' of the Frazer Nash and GN trade marks does not give us the automatic right to oppose the use of the name and the badge on new cars, but it does considerably strengthen our legal position.

Dec 2011: Since John Aldington's death in 2007 the Archives have continued his work in trying to regain control of the Frazer Nash trademark.  Members will recall that the mark has been registered to Porsche, since their takeover of AFN Ltd, although a mysterious German, Herr Dieckmann, appears to have registered the mark in the EU.

The first move was to secure the name under Section 41, which covers Club Services, and this was followed in 2009 by registration of the Frazer Nash mark in the UK under Section 12 - 'Motor cars and fittings for motor cars'. During the past year it has also been possible to register the mark to cover all countries in the EU.  This has been achieved without encountering opposition from either Porsche or Herr Dieckmann.  Although the Archives have initiated and funded these applications, the registrations have been in the name of the Club; this is in part due to the strong position of the Club in producing spares through Frazer Nash Limited.

The next target is registration of the GN mark.  The 'ownership' of the Frazer Nash and GN trade marks does not give us the automatic right to oppose the use of the name and the badge on new cars, but it does considerably strengthen our legal position.