LONDON // The fight over the right to the Lotus name in Formula One will go to trial in late March, meaning the upcoming season will start with two teams using the historic F1 brand.
A British High Court judge dismissed an application for an immediate summary judgment on part of the complex dispute, and instead set a trial to begin on March 21, after the start of the 2011 season in Bahrain.
Team Lotus, run by the Air Asia entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, used the name in F1 last season, claiming it had legally acquired the rights from the remnants of the old team.
However Group Lotus, the road-car division of the company, claims it had the rights to the name and has now entered F1 as a major backer of the Renault team.
It was Group Lotus that applied for a summary judgment yesterday, and the court's refusal to make one was trumpeted as a success by Team Lotus.
"Team Lotus is delighted that we were successful at the summary judgment application hearing today and that the judge threw out Group Lotus' application even before hearing the arguments of the barristers on either side," Team Lotus said in a statement.
"We remain confident that we will succeed at the full trial and we can now focus on the challenges ahead in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship."
It does mean the season will begin with two teams named Lotus-Renault in its historic black and gold colours, with Team Lotus having made the switch to Renault engines and that livery since the completion of the 2010 season.
Monday's summary judgment application was about whether Group Lotus had the right to terminate a licensing deal it had previously signed with Team Lotus, but there is also a broader legal dispute between the two groups over the naming rights.
Group Lotus is owned by the Malaysian government-owned Proton car company.