Austrian property developer makes play on James Bond trademarks

21-Feb-2025 • Bond News

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His timing could not be worse, but Austrian property developer Josef Kleindienst has made a claim on the James Bond trademarks.

Under trademark law, if a mark is not actively used for a period of time, others can enter a dispute with a hope of gaining control (officially this is termed 'cancellation actions based on non-use').

It is that clause that Kleindienst is trying to wrestle some of the 007 trademarks away from Danjaq - the holding company owned by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. That was, of course, until last Thursday when the duo decided to sell up to Amazon, who will doubtlessly double down on exercising those trademarks more vigorously.

Scorn was poured on the stunt by the press, but Kleindienst does have a point: some of the Bond trademarks are in product categories that Danjaq has either never exercised or has not for a long period. The subtext is that Kleindienst was trying to push Danjaq into making a new Bond film sooner rather than later.

“James Bond will not die on our watch,” he told the Guardian. “We and many, many more fans are disappointed to see and understand how James Bond is being treated. Our concern is certainly to ensure that the James Bond as we know him stays alive and that there are further experiences with him. We have decided to invest and support, letting today’s fans and future generations enjoy James Bond.” 

“We are looking at the whole situation and are concerned,” said a spokesperson for Kleindienst. “The falling commercial success, knowing that a fall will ultimately lead to death. Which we want to prevent. Under no circumstances should the next film be the last. The next film is not yet in sight but [there are] also other fundamental issues.”

The EU cancellation actions were filed on 27th January, and similar actions filed in the UK around the same time. Danjaq has two months from the date of the complaint to issue their defence where they must prove the trademarks have been actively used in the past five years. With the legal process for Amazon to take control over the next 90 days, it is unclear who would be providing the defence.