CarBuzz found a patent application in the U.S. Patent Office that was allegedly made by Rolls-Royce concerning the trademark ‘Flying Spur’. Representatives of the company were quick to refute these allegations, but did not clarify the situation.
Bentley has been making cars under the Flying Spur trademark since 1961. The recent patent application allegedly made by Rolls-Royce targeted ‘cars and other vehicles’, as well as ‘car seats for pets’. The application was accompanied by a photo of a couple of dogs sitting in a carrying basket with the label ‘Flying Spur’ attached to it – you can find it at the end of the image gallery below.
Bentley holds rights to the Flying Spur name on most markets where it is present, but notably not in the United States or Italy. As such, it would make sense for another company to fill in the gap. Interestingly, the patent application was registered exactly 19 years after Rolls-Royce lost its trademark rights for ‘Flying Spur’ in the USA.
Rolls-Royce declined comment aside from saying it was not involved. The company also used to produce a car called the Flying Spur – you can see it in the rest of the gallery here – but it was a one-off special edition that did not stay on the market for long. It was a particularly powerful modification of the 1994 Silver Spur sedan which came out in a production run of slightly more than 130 units.