Red Bull Loses Trademark Dispute Against Craft Gin Producer With ‘Bull’ in its Name

Red Bull loses a legal battle with Bullards, which produces a range of craft gins. Pictured is the gin brand’s saline and citrus expression, “Coastal Gin.” (Photo: Bullards Gin/Facebook)

Energy drinks giant Red Bull has lost a legal battle with craft gin business Bullards over a trademark dispute regarding the word “bull,” as reported by The Herald.

The trademark dispute was initiated in 2021 when Red Bull opposed Bullards’ name registration application to the U.K. Intellectual Property Office, according to the Drinks Business. Red bull claimed that the word “bull” would cause confusion.

“What they’re claiming is ludicrous,” said Bullards Founder Russell Evans, according to the report. “There is no confusion whatsoever and actually if we did concede we would be admitting there was.”

The letter issued to Bullards from lawyers acting for Red Bull said: “Our client recognises that your client’s brand stems from a historical family business and so it has asked us to highlight that it does not want to prevent your client from doing anything it has historically done,” as reported by the BBC.

In response, the gin producer called Red Bull a “bully.”

The Norwich-based gin firm was founded in 1837 and revived the Bullards’ name in 2015 as it started to focus on gin production. Red Bull was launched in 1987 in Austria.

The letter asked Bullards to remove non-alcoholic beverages, events and energy drinks from its trademark application.

Red Bull’s opposition to the trademark application failed, according to the hearing’s decision published in October.

“Bullards is not in any way a logical brand extension of Red Bull,” Senior Hearing Officer at the UK Intellectual Property Office Allan James wrote, the report mentioned.

Evans noted he was “relieved” that the legal battle was over.

“It just begs the question as to why they think they can do things like this when all they did was start something that’s now been thrown out but it’s cost me £30,000 to defend,” Evans said, according to The Herald.

Bullards can’t seem to catch a break. Recently, a former Bullards bookkeeper stole over $30K from the gin producer through the company’s PayPal account.

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