Jaguar Land Rover felt so strongly about its ownership of the shape of its iconic Defender SUV that it hired former Ford Motor Co. design chief J Mays to present its case in court.
Ultimately, JLR still lost.
The British automaker has been locked in a legal battle with chemical giant Ineos, which built a look-alike SUV after Land Rover discontinued production of the Defender in 2016.
Although Land Rover has rolled out a modern replacement for the Defender, it saw Ineos' plans as a threat to its heritage. JLR tried to register the shape of the original short-wheelbase Defender 90 and the longer Defender 110 as a trademark.
Ineos challenged the move and prevailed in court last year. Land Rover appealed but lost again in March, the result of which was published just recently.
The company said it has not given up the fight but declined to say whether it would file another appeal.
"We will take whatever decisions we think are needed to protect our design," a spokesman told Automotive News Europe.
Ineos has subsequently revealed the vehicle that its owner, billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, called the "son of Defender."
Many of the Defender's design features are present in the Ineos Grenadier, including the clamshell hood, the alpine windows in the roof and the flat windshield.
It was these features that Mays, who retired as Ford's head of design in 2013, highlighted in a report for JLR that it used to plead its case in the original October hearing.
Ineos, meanwhile, hired former Volvo and Austin Rover designer Stephen Harper, who, the appeal summary noted, pointed out that there were many vehicles on the road that looked visually similar to the Defender. As an example, Harper cited the use of clamshell hoods on the original 1940s Willys Jeep and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
