53 replies to this topic

[E.L.M.O]

wonder how much mylittlecar is being asked for in damages.

[taffy1967]

We will shortly be publishing the full facts of this case on the web site www.mylittlecar.co.uk so everyone can see how truely outrageous this case is. These comments are made without predjudice-

We don't know why they took action against us after 3+ years of trading. There was NO warning letter we would have stopped having received one. MLC makes no money, in fact lost money last year. The accounts are publicly available for £1 at companies house.

BMW turned over £32,000,000,000 last year. Put into perspective - BMW turns over more in 4 seconds than My Little Car did in (a good) 12 months.

They want us to pay damages & costs so we will have to declare bankrupcy, with all the associate problems that puts on us personally - very difficult to startup a new business, get a mortgage or credit etc etc. This is a very very serious position, our lives blighted forever, meanwhile BMW carries on getting more and more powerful, everyone forgets the case until the next incident.

This is what Wedlake Bell their solicitors will be receiving today-

http://www.mylittlec...ase/BMW001w.doc

You might have to copy it into a new browser window to read

There is a law called "groundless threat", look it up in Google, if any legal people read this I'd be curious to know if we would have a case. Not that legal action against them from us or any other trader is an option.

How could you go against a company with a legal budget of MILLIONS OF POUNDS?

How could you pay a solicitor on £250 PER HOUR to spend possibly MONTHS AND MONTHS in court? Whilst you don't have any money coming in because they shut you down???

When if you lost YOU WOULD BE BANKRUPT AND BROKEN

When EVEN IF YOU WON THE CASE you would be out of pocket BY MANY THOUSANDS OF POUNDS???

Think long and hard about those facts. Pehaps its reached the stage where only European courts could do anything against them.

Not specific action from a single person or company but class action like in the States. Again may be a legal person could comment.

Thanks again for all the huge support received its much appreciated.
Deb & Mike

[Dan]

Thanks for the reply Mike and I am sorry if what I said has upset you any more Deb. The point I was trying to make is that it's nothing personal against you by BMW and they probably aren't really concerned by your business at all but thanks to the legal system they have to act against you in case anyone makes a more serious attack on the Mini brand in the future. They have to be able to demonstrate in court that they have been actively protecting their property or they cannot protect it from anyone. They aren't allowed to decide to ignore some breaches and prosecute others, if they ignore some they must ignore all. The way they choose to handle these situations is all wrong and it had been the same for many Mini traders accross the world in recent years. They should try to use a more human way of contacting you but unfortunately it's all done by their legal department. I know that their licenses cost an absolute fortune but here's an idea, why not see if they will let you continue to make the cars for sale exclusively by a Mini trader who currently does have a license such as Mini Spares? They might accept that but I suppose it depends on what type of license each trader has. Someone might have the right license to allow it, maybe BMH?

[Garagiste]

Oh for heaven's sake.
Whist I can understand that they have to be seen to protect their property etc, there are ways of doing so without being such utter s about it.
I shall never entertain the idea of buying any of their products, and I hope that Williams F1 blow them into the weeds this year.

[leonie]

I have nothing but sympathy for mylittlecar, they were selling a wonderful product that was not being offered by anyone else.
I have had ideas about making mini related items that i thought the mini community would be interested in but after reading all this i`m going to have to bin the lot !!!!

[neil_g]

im sorry for the loss of the people involved.

but im afraid its standard practice for any company to protect their product. sure in this case there wasnt much threat to them but like mentioned above if theyre seen to turn a blind eye with one person then theyre opening the flood gates for others.

people seem to be jumping on the "Hate BMW bandwaggon" a bit (not talking about the people who lost out to BMW here), ANY company would of done the same do you equally hate them?

[Teapot]

ANY company would of done the same do you equally hate them?

Yes

[leonie]

i don`t know how much this whole farce is going to cost mylittlecar but can we not set up a fund to help them out ?????? its an absolute disgrace that they are going to suffer soo much when all they wanted to do was give us something unique!!!!!

[flamejob]

Howies had a similar case against them from Levis a while back about the little tag that sticks out of the side of thier Jeans back pocket. It didn't have Levis on it and it was grey. C**p eh?

Stand your ground

It's all C**p isn't it?

[Holly]

i really hope it works out for my little car! ( i was saving for one but that beside the point) I understand about companie protecting the products etc but as was express somewhere the amount of profit being made was negliageble (spelling) youd think BMW would over look it and sponser the site or somethink or even give the nice lady a contract to produce a limited number of the models!

The best of luck for the future hope it all works out

[Garagiste]

ANY company would of done the same do you equally hate them?

Is that a fact? Any company would act to protect their interests, agreed - but to go straight to legal action, demanding damges (when there have been none whatsoever) without so much as a warning? Great PR

[neil_g]

Is that a fact? Any company would act to protect their interests, agreed - but to go straight to legal action, demanding damges (when there have been none whatsoever) without so much as a warning? Great PR

we did (i work for a clothing company) a little while ago, we got told by a rival that we ripped off their logo and they were going to sue. until our legal dept told them to do one..

basic copyright laws im afraid, theyre allowed to protect their interests.

[Garagiste]

Yes, but as I've said there's no need to use a sledgehammer on a hazlenut, a warning would suffice.
No damage has been caused to their brand, why go so OTT?

[neil_g]

copyright theft is usually zero tolerance..

[Garagiste]

Zero discretion or common sense, certainly.

Anybody fancy organising a "let's be a pain in the @rse blocking the entrances to the BMW dealerships with real Minis day"?