So is Jura an island? The jury’s still out...
COMMON SENSE dictates it is a question that could only have one answer.
But when two legal minds were asked: ‘Is Jura obviously an island?’ – the responses that they gave were somewhat surprising.
The issue arose during a case in the High Court i n London, after Scotch whisky producer Whyte & Mackay had applied to use ‘Jura Origin’ as part of a new brand name.
Another firm, Origin Wine, objected – leading to a discussion about whether customers would know Jura was more than the name of a whisky.
The judges considering the trademark dispute disagreed over drinkers’ grasp of geography. One thought the ‘average consumer’ would not be aware Jura was an island in Scotland, suggesting most drinkers would think it was the name of a producer. The other had ‘some doubts’.
Mr Justice Arnold said specialist trademarks judge or ‘hearing officer’ George Salthouse had initially analysed the dispute and ruled in favour of Origin.
But Whyte & Mackay appealed to the High Court – and Mr Justice Arnold upheld the appeal.
He said: ‘I will assume that the hearing officer was correct to conclude that the average consumer would not be aware that Jura was an island in Scotland – although I am bound to say that I have some doubts about this.
‘It follows that the average consumer would perceive the word Jura as being distinctive of Whyte & Mackay’s goods.
‘In those circumstances, I consider that the expression Jura Origin would be understood by the average consumer as meaning that the goods originated from the producer called Jura.’
It is not the first time that Scotland’s national drink has figured in a trademark dispute.
Last year, it emerged that William Grant & Sons was at the centre of a row with a direct descendant of a former employee over the name of a New Zealand whisky.
The New Zealand Whisky Company distillery is run by a descendant of John McGregor, who worked at the Mortlach distillery in the 1870s with William Grant.
The dispute centred on the term The Balvenie DoubleWood, which is bottled by William Grant & Sons, while Dunedin DoubleWood is a product of the New Zealand Whisky Company.
‘The Isle of Jura is one of Scotland’s last wildernesses, where a little over 200 people are outnumbered by 3,500 deer,’ says isleofjura.scot – a website dedicated to the Hebridean island.