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Online car insurance firm beaten by 'phone-on-wheels'
07/08/2007
After a long-running battle with Direct Line, online car insurance provider esure has lost the right to trademark its 'mouse-on-wheels'. In June 2007, the mark was finally deemed too similar to Direct Line's own 'phone-on-wheels'; bringing to an end a court case which has been running since September 2004.
Back then, the mouse-on-wheels was esure's follow-up in to a highly successful marketing campaign featuring Michael Winner. The company made its trademark application a few days before the first commercial was broadcast, but this was blocked by Direct Line.
Bosses at the rival motor insurance firm opposed esure's mark for two reasons. First, they claimed it would be mistaken for Direct Line's own device, confusing customers about the differences between the two firms. Second, they argued that their advertising idea - attaching wheels to a communications device in order to associate it with cars and car insurance - had been copied, meaning that the unique effectiveness of the phone-on-wheels had been compromised.
Initially, the Trade Mark Registry found in esure's favour, but a subsequent hearing and High Court ruling both went the other way. Though confusing one mark for the other was deemed unlikely, the Courts agreed with Direct Line's assertion that the online car insurance brand was trading on a reputation they had created, describing the mouse-on-wheels as 'parasitic and unfair'.
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