Remember a few months ago when reports alleged Eon and Amazon were arguing over what to do with James Bond? Now, things have gotten weirder, as a separate party is looking to get control of several trademarks related to the popular super-spy.
Per The Guardian, Austrian businessman Josef Kleindienst filed several “cancellation actions based on non-use” related to Bond, meaning he wants to own the James Bond name. Under UK and EU law, you could challenge to revoke a tradermark’s ownership if the original owner hasn’t done anything with it in its specific area in “at least five years.” Aside from 2021’s No Time to Die, Kleindiesnt argued the name hasn’t been used in other “classes” of goods and services like “models of vehicles, computer programmes and electronic comic books, and electronic publishing.” Along with the character’s name, there’s other trademarks that can be challenged here: “James Bond Special Agent 007,” “James Bond 007,” “James Bond: World of Espionage,”—and yes, his always-famous catchphrase “Bond, James Bond.”
Why does Kleindienst want James Bond so badly? As the Guardian notes, he’s a real estate agent who’s reportedly the largest European property developer in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A spokesperson for the company said that he’s got plans for what to do with the Bond trademark should he win, and his complaint against Eon noted there’s been no Bond restaurants or cocktail lounges, so you can surmise where this is all going. It’s actually not too dissimilar from what Eon’s going through with Amazon: the tech giant wanted to make an entire Bond franchise, but Eon (specifically longtime franchise producer Barbara Broccoli) very much does not want that.
Kleindienst’s challenge was filed on January 27, and Danjaq (a US-based company with worldwide licensing rights to James Bond) has two months to argue that it has used the Bond trademark in these challenged areas.
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