SkunkWorks the Perth based distributor of TV and wall mounts has won a major legal battle with one of the world's biggest aircraft Companies.
US manufacturing giant Lockheed Martin was determined to hang onto the clandestine name Skunkworks which it claimed it had had used during the "Cold War" to upset the communist world. So much so that they mounted a legal case against small Perth based distributor SkunkWorks.
While they may have beaten the communists with their clandestine activities they failed to beat Lou Schillaci and his team who 3 years ago decided to take the US giant on. In a three-year battle over the name company's name, the Aussie manufacturer came out on top when IP Australia, who manages trademark applications, awarded the Skunkwork trademark to them instead to one of the richest producers of military hardware in the world.
Lockheed contended that the trademark was theirs due to them using the name in the 1950s when they were developing covert military products to help fight the Cold War.
In what clearly seems to be a case of a multi-billion dollar corporation trying to the bully the little guy into submission, it turns out that Lockheed's use of the name was historical and actually had no bearing on any products they currently produce.
