The High Court awarded Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft €10,000 after an earlier ruling that Edward Ronayne, trading as BMWCare, had infringed its intellectual property rights. The award reflected presumed injury to BMW’s property rights; the court did not award aggravated damages.
Mr Justice Ryan delivered the ruling on 8 April 2014. In December 2013, he had held that BMW was entitled to injunctions restraining Mr Ronayne from using its name, or incorporating it into his business name. The present decision addressed BMW’s subsequent claim for damages and costs alongside that injunctive relief. The judgment says it should be read with the earlier decision on patent infringement and passing off.
BMW argued that Mr Ronayne had benefited from its branding, interfered with its control of its intellectual property and used its marks over a period of time. It also sought aggravated damages, submitting that the continued use and the defendant’s response to the infringement finding supported an additional award.
Mr Ronayne argued that BMW had shown no loss, that its profits had increased during the relevant period and that it had provided no evidence of licensing costs or his business’s profits. The court noted that BMW had not alleged loss or reduced trade, and there was no evidence of consumer confusion. It found no evidence of BMW’s financial loss or of illicit gains by Mr Ronayne. The judge considered it likely that he had made no money from using the marks, describing his repair and service business as modest and its takings as extremely small.
The court said damages must compensate for loss, rather than punish a defendant. Although difficult-to-measure loss may be estimated, an arbitrary sum reflecting disapproval would not meet that principle. The judge nevertheless considered that BMW may have suffered general reputational loss from its association with Mr Ronayne’s commercial activity. Finding that any such loss was impossible to measure, he awarded €10,000 for presumed injury to BMW’s property rights.
The court did not find that Mr Ronayne had intentionally or maliciously infringed BMW’s rights. It also refused aggravated damages, concluding they were not appropriate in light of his conduct and the circumstances. The judgment records the damages award and refusal of aggravated damages; it does not state a separate costs order.