Avida to appeal court ruling

The former manufacturer of Winnebago motorhomes in Australia will seek to appeal a decision to award millions of dollars in damages to the US-based Winnebago Industries Inc.

A Federal Court decision last week by Justice David Yates found that Knott Investments and nine dealers must pay the American manufacturer one per cent royalties on sales of Winnebago vehicles in Australia over a 10 year period from 2004.

On a statement on its Facebook page, Avida RV (formerly Winnebago Australia) said:

“At this point in time we will be appealing the judgement and the proceedings will continue into their sixth year. That being said it's business as usual as we move into our 51st year of business and we are just as excited now, as we were when we built our first motorhome back in 1965. We have always designed and built our products in Australia for Australia and that will not change.”

The court ruling is the latest chapter in a five-year legal tussle between Iowa-based Winnebago Industries, which has been manufacturing motorhomes in the US since 1966, and Knott Investments which produced a range of Winnebago-branded motorhomes in Australia from 1978 to 2013.

In 2012 the iconic American company won a court case against the local manufacturer and dealers using their brand name, after which the Australian company changed its name to Avida.

Avida RV CEO, Ben Binns, said no date had been set for the appeal but he was confident of winning.

“We have good reason to appeal. We don’t agree with the judgement, number one. Our legal advice is fairly clear around that,” Binns said.

The Australian manufacturer has consistently argued they had permission to use the Winnebago name down under.

"Winnebago Australia acquired the business name, Winnebago in 1978 after having traded as the Freeway Motor Camper Company for 13 years, striking an agreement in writing with the (Winnebago USA) company to use the name. To have them try to prevent us from using the name so many years later is astounding,” Binns said in a statement in early-2013.

He denied claims the pay out ordered by the court (believed to be around $5-7million) could financially ruin the Australian company, which employs about 200 people and builds an estimated 500 motorhomes and caravans a year at its Emu Plains, NSW factory.

“Worst case scenerio is we pay them and we move on, but we just don’t agree with the judgement,” Binns said.

While Avida is allowed legally to use the Winnebago name – one of its slogans is ‘Maker of the Australian Winnebago’ – it’s likely to be phased out.

“It all depends how the court case goes, but we don’t tend to use (Winnebago) much anymore. I think we’ve transferred a lot of equity into the new brand, and sales in Avida are going really, really well,” he said.

Binns admitted it also adds to confusion in the marketplace, following the recent introduction of a new range of Winnebago-branded RVs from Queensland-based Apollo Motorhome Holidays.

“There’s no doubt it’s confusing when there are two manufacturers of the same name in the same country that are completely different,” he said.