Winnebago Australia has won its appeal against a Federal Court decision ordering the cancellation of the Winnebago trademark in Australia.
It means that Avida Motorhomes, which is the new name of Winnebago, will be able to label its products “Maker of the Australian Winnebago”. The original court decision had ordered that the Winnebago name cease to be used by the Australian company after September of this year.
“The court’s decision is very pleasing and vindicates our position in this matter,” Ben Binns, Director and CEO of Winnebago Australia, said in a statement. “The company has been in our family for 48 years and being Australian owned, our goal is to support manufacturing in Australia and, of course, our very loyal Australian workforce and customer base”.
Despite the victory, there are apparently no plans for a return to the Winnebago name, although the company says a future larger vehicle could possibly carry the Winnebago tag.
“We wanted our own Australian identity and I believe that we have been very successful in launching the Avida brand in Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Binns said. “Avida is the brand which we intend to go forward with into the future”
Winnebago Australia said to assist in providing further credibility to Avida, the company will promote Avida as the ‘makers of the Australian Winnebago’, linking the company’s heritage since 1965 to the newest motorhome brand on the market.
As well as continuing to produce Avida motorhomes, the company is also branching out into caravans with a new protoyype just a month or two away.
Winnebago Australia launched the first Winnebago branded motorhome back in 1978 but it was only a couple of years ago that Winnebago Industries of Iowa, a company not associated with Winnebago in Australia had decided to take action to prevent Winnebago Australia from using the name.
While there is still a chance that US-based Winnebago Industries could continue the legal fight, this may well be the end of the long-running saga.
