A WHISKY firm that was spun out of the original iteration of Glasgow blending and bottling business Douglas Laing & Co has won the first round in an intellectual property dispute related to the use of the word Douglas in its brands.

The dispute centres on an application by Hunter Laing & Co, which was formed by the 2013 division of family business Douglas Laing & Co into two distinct entities, to register the trade mark Douglas of Drumlanrig.

The brand had originally been used by Douglas Laing & Co on a series of malts that it bottled for the Duke of Buccleuch. Hunter Laing & Co subsequently took responsibility for that line and made the trade mark application around the same time as Douglas Laing & Co split.

However, a third party, Andrew Crombie, opposed the application on the basis that his business, The Shieling Scotch Whisky Company, owned marks bearing the words The Douglas Blend and Clan Douglas.

Mr Crombie, whose firm is focused on licensing whisky brands, argued that Hunter Laing & Co would be able to “free ride” on his marks if its application was successful. Hunter Laing & Co in turn applied to have Mr Crombie’s two marks revoked.

Hunter Laing & Co was successful in having those marks - which date from 1936 and 1987 respectively – invalidated, with Mark Bryant, principal hearing officer at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), ruling that Mr Crombie had not been able to prove that he was the owner of the marks.

It is understood that Mr Crombie is appealing that decision.

Mr Bryant also rejected Mr Crombie’s opposition to Hunter Laing & Co’s application to register the Douglas of Drumlanrig trade mark, noting in his ruling that the bid failed “in its entirety”.

However, that matter is not at a final close either, with Mr Crombie filing an application to trade mark the Douglas of Drumlanrig name. Hunter Laing & Co has opposed that application.

Hunter Laing & Co was formed when brothers Stewart and Fred Laing decided to split Glasgow-based family business Douglas Laing & Co, which they had inherited from their father four decades previously, in two.

In his evidence to the UKIPO Stewart Laing said that the business relationship with his brother had ended “somewhat acrimoniously”, although at the time both said the division was made with succession planning in mind.

Following the split Stewart Laing and his sons Andrew and Scott launched Hunter Laing & Co with brands including the Douglas Blend as well as Old Malt Cask, Old & Rare and John Player Special.

The Douglas Laing & Co brand, meanwhile, was retained by Fred Laing, whose daughter Cara joined the business as head of brands and marketing.

That business retained brands including Director’s Cut, King of Scots, Big Peat and Double Barrel.

Given the importance of brand in the drinks industry it is not unusual for businesses to become embroiled in trade mark disputes.

Earlier this year the UKIPO rejected an application from Morrison Glasgow Distillers, owners of newly opened The Clydeside Distillery, to register a mark bearing the name The Glasgow Distillery.

That application, which was filed in January 2015, prior to Morrison changing the operation’s name to The Clydeside Distillery, had been opposed by Hillington-based Glasgow Distillery Company.

UKIPO hearing officer Teresa Perks rejected the application on the basis that the public would likely confuse the two companies if their trademarks contained the same words.

This is one of the key considerations in any trade mark application.

Similarly, the UKIPO ruled against Aberdeenshire craft beer maker BrewDog earlier this year after the estate of singer Elvis Presley objected to the use of his name in its Elvis Juice beer brand.

Hearing officer Oliver Morris said that “the average consumer will assume that the brand Elvis Juice is from the same or economically linked source as the brand Elvis”.

BrewDog was therefore ultimately unable to register the brand as a trade mark.