Our sponsor and a leading insurer for young drivers is appealing to the industry to support free trade by not trying to trademark key terms.  Marmalade was forced to act after a member of its driving instructor membership group  Marmalade Network, was challenged over its use of the term ‘young driver’ by a company trying to trademark the term for their exclusive use.

The ‘young driver’ trademark had been applied for and was initially granted to Young Driver Training a driving school based across the UK which offers driving lessons to young people under the age of 17.  Had they been successful in trademarking ‘young driver’ it would have effectively stopped all UK driving instructors from using the term.

Marmalade undertook a legal challenge and earlier this month (June), the application was withdrawn, permitting all driving instructors and those working with young drivers, to freely refer to their customers as ‘young drivers’.

Nick Moger, Chairman of Marmalade, commented: “Young drivers need all the help and support they can get when starting their driving journeys.  Driving instructors and specialist insurers are at the forefront of this experience and it is critical that the whole industry can use simple and well understood terms like ‘young driver’ to describe what they are doing and who they cater for.  We believe that trying to restrict use of these simple terms is detrimental to the whole of the industry and we ask everyone involved to avoid doing so. I am absolutely thrilled our efforts and investment have benefitted driving instructors across the country and given them the freedom to describe and talk about their customers in a way that everyone understands.”

Marmalade Network was first made aware of the intentions of Young Driver Training after they approached Young Driver Challenge to stop them using the term. Reflecting on the recent outcome, co-founder and ADI Chris Bensted, said: “I am incredibly thankful to Lynne from the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (ADINJC) and Nick from Marmalade who have been extremely supportive in protecting our freedom of speech and our livelihoods.”

Lynne Barrie, ADINJC Chairman concludes: “It is extremely important for our industry that we keep the term ‘young driver’ free for use so we can continue to communicate, appeal, educate and train young drivers. The phrase should never be exclusive to one particular service or provider so we are extremely grateful to Marmalade for their efforts and for supporting our industry.”

To find out more about Marmalade Network visit: www.marmaladenetwork.co.uk