WilmerHale Represents BRP in Defeating Jaguar Land Rover’s $130M Trademark Challenge

• 1.18.2019

Today, BRP won the United States trademark case brought against it by Jaguar Land Rover Limited concerning BRP’s Can-Am Defender utility-recreation side-by-side. In 2016, Land Rover sued BRP seeking $130 million in damages, alleging that BRP’s Can-Am Defender infringed Land Rover’s United States trademark rights on “Defender.” After an eight-day trial, a jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan rejected Land Rover’s infringement claim.

“We are pleased that the jury recognized the Can-Am Defender as a unique and distinctive product,” said Martin Langelier, senior vice president, general counsel and public affairs at BRP. 

In 1992, Land Rover obtained a trademark for the name “Defender” for “motor land vehicles, namely station wagons.” In 2015, BRP introduced the Can-Am Defender side-by-side vehicle, and the jury found that consumers would not be confused between the Land Rover Defender and the Can-Am Defender. 

BRP was represented by Louis Tompros and Colleen McCullough of WilmerHale, Dean Amburn and Lina Asmar of Giroux Amburn, and Yves St. Arnaud of BRP.