Articles by Jared Owens

The international automotive giant’s case alleged Australian company and 11 dealerships have been selling knock-off motorhomes for three decades.Winnebago does not sell many campervans in Australia, but Sydney man Bruce Binns has been manufacturing and selling his own “Winnebago''-branded motorhomes since 1978.The US company did not discover the copycat business until 1985, at which point it decided it was too complicated to chase Mr Binns, and hoped he would eventually go broke.But Mr Binns's company, Knott Investments, thrived to the point where it today employs 190 manufacturing workers.Mr Binns negotiated a truce with Winnebago in 1992, with the US company agreeing not to sue him in the US courts so long as his business remained in Australia and he did not register the US trademarks as his own.Knott registered the logo in Australia as its own. In the meantime, Winnebago's Iowa headquarters has been receiving a stream of complaints from Mr Binns's Australian customers who wrongly believed the two enterprises were linked.Winnebago finally took action in October 2010, filing a complaint in the Federal Court for breach of intellectual property.Last Wednesday, judge Lindsay Foster backed the US firm, cancelling Knott's trademark and asking the parties to bring forward a plan to rebrand the Australian company and dealerships.“By choosing to exploit the Winnebago name and the Winnebago logos, (Mr Binns) was intending to gain for himself as much benefit as possible in Australia from the goodwill and reputation of Winnebago and its RVs,'' the judge said. “(Mr Binns) intentionally hijacked the Winnebago (trade) marks in Australia.''