Ben Wallace in trademark row with whisky brand

A whisky brand has lodged a trademark violation case against former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace for setting up a company with the same name as a Scottish single malt.

The ex-Tory MP for Wyre and Preston North set up Glenfiddich Consulting Ltd ahead of leaving the Commons in 2024.

He has previously said he used Glenfiddich as a codename in discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart following the Russian invasion.

In a brief conversation with the BBC, Sir Ben said he believed the case was no longer going ahead, but Glenfiddich owner William Grant & Sons has not responded to the BBC's request for comment.

Sir Ben founded the company in 2024, and it was based at accountants Towers & Gornall in Garstang.

Glenfiddich Consulting Ltd has no website, but is listed as a business involved in "foreign affairs", according to its Companies House registration.

According to an interview Wallace gave to the Times newspaper in 2023, Sir Ben would use whisky brand names during discussions with Ukrainian foreign minister Oleksii Reznikov because the pair did not have a secure line to text on.

Glenfiddich was the name he used for the Next Generation Light Anti-Tank weapon, according to Wallace.

He previously told the Times he would "text [Reznikov] saying, 'I've got some whisky for you' or 'the whisky is on its way'.

Glenfiddich had been a popular whisky brand in Russia for many years, but suspended all its exports to the country after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Sir Ben – who was Wyre and Preston North MP from 2005 to 2024 and Defence Secretary from 2019 to 2023 - is the sole director and shareholder of the company, which is listed as having up to four employees.

It posted that it ran a debt of just over £5,000 in its first year's trading.

A case lodged at the High Court by William Grant & Sons Ltd shows the drinks manufacturer is claiming Glenfiddich Consulting Ltd had breached the firm's intellectual property rights.

It claims it is a violation of its trademark for the whisky brand, which is based in Dufftown and has been around since 1886.

A claim for "passing off" must successfully make the case that the public identifies the name with a specific company, and that the defendant in the case has misrepresented, intentionally or otherwise, in a way that the public is "likely to believe that goods or services provided by the defendant are in fact goods or services provided by the claimant".

The company making the claim must also show it has suffered, or is likely to suffer, damage as a result of the misrepresentation.

Sir Ben said as far as he was aware, the case - lodged on 27 January - was no longer being pursued, but was unable to provide any further details.

William Grant & Sons has been approached for comment by the BBC.

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