Seasoning dispute could get messy

to allow the Robertson’s product to be manufactured and sold, changing the name to “Original.”

Ogilvie said that the Robertson’s Original product has been “on constant sale since 2005,” and that he has recently updated the packaging. He maintains that only the Airtight brand name, and not the tartan container, the bottles and the wording, has been copyrighted.

“I have no knowledge of what Hardie put in their seasoning,” Ogilvie said, “but I have a paper trail to show that I make a seasoning from a recipe written in the hand of Pipe-Major John Weatherston.”

Alastair Dunn concluded in his statement: “‘Airtight’ and ‘R.G. Hardie’ and ‘Peter Henderson’ and ‘Robertsons’ are all trademarks of R.G. Hardie & Co Ltd. Prior to 2005 there has never been a product called Robertsons Original and the name and packaging directly contravene the decades long use of the ‘tartan tin’ which is recognizable worldwide and is passing off. All this has been raised in correspondence but to no avail and following a legal route would have again cost thousands and looking at the company accounts revealed an insolvent company and no worth. We have followed advice and having stopped use of the PH stamp and with the Peter Henderson company dormant and non-trading we let the Robertsons Original dwindle to nothing as demonstrated by the accounts.

“We cannot however permit this to be resurrected and the statements on the website are totally unacceptable and wrong. They are contrary to logic and reason. The copyrights, intellectual property rights and trademarks belong to R.G. Hardie & Co. Ltd. and it is wrong that we have to take legal steps with all the associated costs to protect our interests against ‘straw’ companies.

“If someone believes they have obtained the recipe then they should create their own brand in their own tin and compete on a level playing field rather than passing off a pale copy of our product.”

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for more on this increasingly messy story on bagpipe seasoning.

To read the full statement on the matter from Alastair Dunn of Gaelic Themes / R.G. Hardie & Co. provided exclusively to pipes|drums, click here.