Whyte Bikes, the company which won a court order against Haas F1 Team title sponsor Rich Energy over the use of its logo, has threatened to pursue a winding up order against the company to recover legal costs it's owed.
It's just the latest development in an ongoing saga which earlier this week took another unusual twist when Rich Energy terminated its agreement with Haas via a Twitter statement. That was then denied by the company and it became apparent that a "rogue employee" had sent the tweet, but had no prior clearance to do so.
That employee is believed to be Rich Energy CEO William Storey, who is now battling shareholders for control of the company.
But further to that, Whyte Bikes has now threatened further action against the energy drinks company, Staxoweb – a graphic design company which "created" the disputed stag's head logo – and Storey.
In May, Whyte was awarded £35,416 in costs, to be paid by Rich Energy by close of business on Friday. This money never arrived and Whyte have now threatened to recover the costs through legal channels, including a winding up order.
“On 27 June 2019 the High Court in London made various orders against the Defendants, Rich Energy, William Storey and Staxoweb. One of the orders was that they should pay to Whyte [ATB Sales] costs totalling £35,416 by 11 July 2019," read a statement.
“The Defendants have failed to pay any of the costs awarded. Each of the Defendants is jointly liable for the whole amount of costs awarded.
"ATB will now be forced to take appropriate action to recover the costs that they have been awarded. This may include applications to the Court to wind up both Rich Energy and Staxoweb and to petition for the bankruptcy of Mr Storey."
Haas meanwhile have said they are willing to continue working with Rich Energy if Storey is removed from the company and a new CEO is appointed, but it remains to be seen whether this is possible as it's unknown how many shares Storey holds and if it constitutes a majority.
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