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| Renault Logo | Lotus Renault GP Logo | Group Lotus Logo | Team Lotus Logo |
Formula One followers were left with every excuse to feel confused on Friday when, after weeks of deliberation, the High Court in London ruled that two apparently different 'Lotus' teams could continue to race in the sport.
In a detailed judgment, Mr Justice Peter Smith ruled that Team Lotus had the right to race in F1 as Team Lotus - and that car manufacturer Group Lotus had the right to use the Lotus name in association with another racing team.
That meant they could continue to run in their classic black-and-gold livery with Renault, as they have done so far this year, in the Lotus Renault GP team.
The court ruled also that Team Lotus, a 'new' Anglo-Malaysian outfit created to enter F1 in 2010 as Lotus Racing, had breached a licensing agreement with Group Lotus last year.
Group Lotus announced they are seeking leave to appeal because they believe the judgement will cause confusion in the eyes of spectators and television viewers.
In a statement, Group Lotus said: "Team Lotus has the right to continue to race in Formula One under the name Team Lotus, but the effect of the judgment is that only Group Lotus can use the name 'Lotus' on its own in F1.
"Group Lotus is concerned that this aspect of the judgment will cause confusion in the eyes of spectators and the wider public.
"Accordingly, Group Lotus is seeking leave to appeal so that the right to use the Lotus brand in Formula 1 is clarified once and for all in the interests of the sport and the fans."
The statement added that Group Lotus, backed by Proton, was confident of success on appeal.
Predictably, Team Lotus also believed it had cause for satisfaction.
Team owner Tony Fernandes said: "We are all pleased that it has been clarified that we are the rightful owners of Team Lotus.
"We have always been confident that the factual evidence we presented would lead to this decision and today's judgment confirms that belief.
"We are of course disappointed about the decision that Group Lotus was entitled to end the licence agreement in 2010.
"We entered into that contract on the basis that we were beginning a long-term partnership with Group Lotus, but unfortunately they then used technical breaches of the merchandising pre-notification process to bring the licence and our partnership to an end.
"However, my fellow shareholders and I are firm believers that when one door closes another door opens.
"In the early days of our agreement, we realised its termination was inevitable and as events have unfolded the end of the licence has proved positive for us -- with many new avenues opened up as a result."
Divorced from Group Lotus, Team Lotus has formed a recent new partnership with Caterham Cars.
Fernandes said: "We wanted a long-term relationship with Group Lotus to help them sell more cars around the world, but that door closed and now we are delighted that we can turn our attention to ensuring success for Caterham Cars on the road and Team Lotus on track."
Mr Justice Peter Smith ruled that Team Lotus had to pay damages to Group Lotus for the breach of their licensing agreement.
Lotus Racing changed its name to Team Lotus for the 2011 season in which it has declared it expects to make progress and establish itself among the mid-field runners, leaving fellow 'new' 2010 arrivals Hispania Racing and Virgin behind.
This year, however, like both Hispania and Virgin, Team Lotus has yet score a point while Lotus Renault has 50 points.
Team Lotus drivers are Finn Heikki Kovalainen and Italian Jarno Trulli.
The Lotus Renault GP drivers are Russian Vitaly Petrov and German Nick Heidfeld.
According to the judgement, it appears that the common practice of referring to Team Lotus as Lotus, in a second reference, and Lotus Renault, as Renault, may have to end.
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