Virgin Group won its trademark case against Alaska Airlines Inc for approximately $160m on Thursday, with a judge in London ruling that it is entitled to royalties even though the US airline no longer uses the Virgin brand. Virgin units Virgin Aviation TM Ltd and Virgin Enterprises Ltd argued Alaska is liable to pay a roughly $8m “minimum royalty” payment every year until 2039. It said a 2014 trademark licence agreement between Virgin and Virgin America Inc, which was acquired by Alaska's parent company in 2016, required the annual payment even if Alaska stopped using its branding. Judge Christopher Hancock said in a written ruling on Thursday that the minimum royalty was “a flat fee payable for the right to use the Virgin brand, whether or not that right is taken up”. A spokesperson for Virgin said Alaska’s acquisition of Virgin America included “a branding agreement lasting until 2039 with clear obligations”, adding: “We are pleased the court agreed with our arguments.” A spokesperson for Alaska said the case is “without merit and we intend to appeal the decision”. Virgin granted a trademark licence to Virgin America to use its brand in connection with the operation of a US domestic airline before Alaska Air Group completed its $2.6b acquisition of Virgin America. Alaska merged its operations with Virgin America in 2018 and stopped using the Virgin brand the following year. Virgin told London’s High Court in October that Alaska, as the legal successor to Virgin America Inc, is obliged to make the annual payment. Alaska’s lawyers argued that an agreement requiring it to pay $8m a year for trademarks it has no intention of using was “commercially nonsensical”. However, Hancock ruled the agreement stated that “Virgin America should pay a continuing minimum fee for the right to re-use the Virgin brand, whether or not they chose to do so”.<br/>
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SriLankan Airlines has grounded three aircraft because they do not have the available funds to pay for engine repairs according to Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. He told Sri Lanka's parliament on February 10, 2023, that the aircraft have been grounded for several months for this reason. Repeating earlier calls to restructure and privatise the airline, de Silva claimed SriLankan Airlines was carrying US$1.2b in debt, and outgoings such as interest and lease payments ate into any possible profit margins. “Three aircraft are on the ground,” the minister said. “For several months we have not had the money to fix the engines." SriLankan Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall confirmed to ch-aviation that three A320 family aircraft were grounded due to a lack of engines. Nuttall says this is the result of a combination of issues including reliability problems with the new technology CFM International Leap engines, the grounding of aircraft during Covid, payment issues coming out of Covid, and the 2022 financial meltdown in Sri Lanka. "At the moment we have payment plans agreed upon that have been operating for several months. Now the challenge is the availability of engines and slots at overhaul facilities. This is an industry challenge affecting many airlines," he said.<br/>