Green Motion, the global car hire franchise company, has won a trademark dispute with the operator of a business in the Ilford area of London, UK.

In February 2015 a business owner called Mr. Mukhtar registered a company called ‘Green Motion Car Hire Limited’. Green Motion contacted Mr. Mukhtar to advise him that his company name would infringe Green Motion's UK and global trademarks.

Upon investigation, Green Motion discovered its reputation amongst customers, vehicle suppliers and funders was being actively undermined by confusion between the company names because Mr. Mukhtar had previously received county court judgements for non-payment of debt and was withholding deposit money from customers.

Following requests by Green Motion to desist from infringing its trademarks, Mr. Mukhtar refused to change the name of his business. Green Motion approached Companies House to gain clarification and apply the law that forced Mr. Mukhtar to change his company name to ‘Flex Drive (Ilford) Limited’ in July.

Richard Lowden, Founder & CEO of Green Motion, said: "Green Motion has worked extremely hard over the last decade to build its reputation by serving hundreds of thousands of customers in the UK and more than 30 global locations. The actions of Mr. Mukthar were extremely concerning and a clear infringement of our trademarks. We are committed to taking decisive action to defending our brand wherever necessary. This is essential for a successful global franchise business such as ours that trades on its good reputation."