Josef Kleindienst, a wealthy Austrian real estate promoter, wants to exploit legal finesse to appropriate the brand associated with the franchise of films produced historically by Eon and its boss Barbara Broccoli.
Could the rights associated on behalf of agent 007 change hands? The current owners of the James Bond franchise, Danjaq and Eon Productions, are the subject of a legal attack from the United Arab Emirates, reports The Guardian . Led in Europe on January 27 and more recently in the United Kingdom, it is the result of a wealthy Austrian real estate promoter, located in Dubai.
The latter thus wants to take advantage of a delicacy of law which stipulates that in the event “Lack of use of the brand” For several years, – in this case the last leap Dying can wait was released in 2021 -, the use of the name and its marketing derivatives would again be available.
Said in more legal terms, this means that by virtue of British and European law, if a brand name is affixed to certain products, but the owner does not operate it for commercial purposes for a period of at least five years, his property can be legally challenged. The ambitious Josef Kleindienst, a billionaire real estate developer, is currently building a luxurious hotel complex estimated at $ 5 billion, called “Hearth of Europe” (heart of Europe), which extends over six artificial islands Large of Dubai, and in which he would like to use the name of James Bond and some of his variations.
« Bond, James Bond » Among the claims
“He pointed out to the European Union that the brand has not been used for the goods and services it protects, and it is likely that it has arrested British justice for the same reasons”explains to Guardian Mark Caddle, partner and advisable in patents within the European intellectual property firm Withers & Rogers.
“It’s hard to know what he is lineage […] He must have a reason “
Mark Caddle
The appeal of Josef Kleindienst, whose economic empire Kleindienst Group presents itself as the largest European real estate developer with the United Arab Emirates, would not target the cinematographic production of James Bond. The Austrian criticizes the franchise the non-use of the James Bond brand in the automotive sector, computer programs and digital comics, design, or in restaurants, cocktail bar services and ‘accommodation. The billionaire, who may dream of creating “resorts” to the glory of the super-espion would like a legal raid on the names of domains associated with Bond: James Bond Special Agent 007, James Bond 007, James Bond, James Bond: World of Espionage and, even more surprising, the famous sentence « Bond, James Bond ».
Danjaq has two months to defend himself
A billionaire spokesperson told the Guardian that a “Announcement would be made soon”. Mark Caddle specifies that Danjaq, the American company, a subsidiary of Eon Productions, which has the rights of James Bond internationally, “Has two months to present his defense”. “If Danjaq wants to maintain these marks alive, she will have to take action with the brand of brands to demonstrate that she has used James Bond in the disputed areas in the past five years”continues the British lawyer.
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If Danjaq cannot prove its use of the James Bond brand, it could then lose its rights and Josef Kleindient could use the name in the United Arab Emirates. The Austrian billionaire would also have British and European rights of the brand, but no one knows what he intends to do with it. “It’s hard to know what he is lineage […] He must have a reason “notes Mark Caddle. Josef Kleindienst’s spokesman, he simply announced that he was counting “S’en serve”.