St Kilda (Holdings) Ltd., the parent company of bagpipe manufacturers RG Hardie & Co., has won a court order banning the manufacture of ‘Robertsons Original Seasoning’. St Kilda obtained the interdict at a court hearing in Dundee on March 15.
The interdict bans ‘Robertsons Original Seasoning’, their agents, contractors and employees from selling, advertising seasoning packaged in a manner that closely resembles Airtight, or describing it as being associated with the original seasoning recipe of the James Robertson and/or the Robertson brand.
In a statement St Kilda said: ‘St Kilda (Holdings) Ltd., on behalf of its trading subsidiary R G Hardie & Co., has successfully obtained an interim court order against Robertsons Original Seasoning Company Ltd prohibiting Robertsons Original Seasoning Company from selling their current brand of bagpipe seasoning.
‘Any breach of this court order is a serious matter and one that may lead to contempt of court on the part of those in breach. The court order states that Robertson’s Original Seasoning Company should not be selling any seasoning in a package that so closely resembles the packaging of our Airtight seasoning, nor should they be making any claims or connections to the Robertson’s brand.
‘We have tried to resolve this issue out of court, but have been unable to do so and have had to resort to this action as we must ensure that our brand is protected, and customers are not misled. Our distinct packaging and the ‘Original’ Robertson’s seasoning recipe has been the property of Hardies since 1966, and after 50 years of sales this company now seeks to ‘pass off’ its product as our product. We cannot allow this to continue.
‘We shall pursue compliance with the court order. Robertsons Original Seasoning and/or James Robertson’s Original Seasoning in its current form should not be sold and should not be offered for sale by dealers.
‘We want to ensure that there is no confusion in the market place, and we want to protect our customers from the purchase of counterfeit products based on inaccurate statements. If any person is aware of such offers for sale please contact Alastair Dunn direct on +44 (0)141 332 0407 or email alastaird@stkildaholdings.com.’
Mr Dunn is a Director of St. Kilda Holdings Ltd. He added: ‘It is with sadness that we have to continue protecting our brands by resorting to court action. But RG Hardie has a worldwide reputation for quality and excellence and it is not something we can give up lightly. People should be in no doubt as to our determination to pursue those who try to pass off our products.’
RG Hardie’s ‘Airtight’ seasoning is the biggest selling bag seasoning on the market. The recipe for the seasoning was acquired by the company in 1966 when they bought out the Edinburgh-based bagpipe firm of James Robertson, the originators of the ‘Airtight’ brand.
If the other party did not show up in court, the judge normally has no discretion other than to grant the order. Given how broad the order is and how little information is actually available about what trademarks are in question – or have ever actually been registered – I suspect this may be the case.
And I really struggle to take seriously the claim that the two are easily confused.
I totally agree that products should speak for themselves, but the issue here as i see it is that the new manufacturer is intentionally piggybacking off the reputation of a long established product and someone else’s copyright.
I think coca cola would have something to say if someone porported to have their recipe and tried to sell it as “coke original”.
At the end of the day a judge with far more facts than you or I saw the merits of the case. I think the person trying to start up the new seasoning should just be sensible and sell it as “joe bloggs seasoning” and as you say, if it’s good people will buy it. That’s surely the honest way to do it.
Duncan, I’d be curious to know if anyone else turned up in court to defend themselves!
Personally I’d rather see the products speak for themselves. I never thought there was any confusion between the different brands available on the marketplace, and like you, I know what I prefer!
I have a couple of containers of Air .Tight . One is a metal tin and the other is a plastic container. I have used both, but find they differ in consistency and one is better than the other. I am loath to identify which is the better o the two for fear of ending in court!
I would like to know which is the authentic Air Tight. Perhaps you can help an old man?
On a wider issue the fact that a bagpipe manufacturer has resorted to court action presumably pursuing another bagpipe accessory manufacturer, should be a message that in the world of piping we can all be held to legal account.