Bona Vacantia. Yours, Someone Else's… or the Crown's?

The Notting Hill Bag Co case ( [2025] EWHC 1793 (IPEC)) turned on a number of points including the key doctrine of Bona Vacantia. But what is “Bona Vacantia”?

In 2009 Natasha Courtenay-Smith designed a logo which she registered as a trade mark through her company, The Notting Hill Shopping Bag Company Limited. The logo was what made these reusable alternatives to plastic bags become really popular, and even caught the eye of the Princess of Wales.

In late 2022, another company started selling The Notting Hill Shopper Bag which Courtenay-Smith claimed infringed her copyright in the logo and claimed trade mark infringement and passing off.

Ms Courtenay-Smith had voluntarily dissolved The Notting Hill Shopping Bag Company Limited in 2018, and there was no evidence of an intention to ever restore it. This meant those assets automatically passed as bona vacantia to the Crown, as the trade mark and goodwill in the business had not been assigned to her new company “The Notting Hill Bag Company”.

Bona Vacantia?

“Bona Vacantia” (BV) = “vacant goods.” In UK law, when a company is dissolved and its assets (including trademarks, patents, and domain names) are not properly transferred (assignments need to be watertight), they legally become the property of the Crown.

The Notting Hill Bag Co case is a painful reminder of this. A company’s trademark was due for renewal, but because the company had been dissolved, the assets were ‘Bona Vacantia’. Once the trade mark vested in the Crown, only the Crown (or someone authorised by it) could validly renew the registration. As no such authority existed, the purported renewal was a nullity. The claimants therefore had no valid registered trade mark on which to base their infringement claim, creating a nightmare for all involved.

This is a significant risk whenever companies are dissolved, restructured or assets are transferred between corporate entities.

For a company in financial distress: If you dissolve the company without properly transferring or selling your IP assets, they can be lost.

For a ‘live’ company: If you acquire a mark from a dissolved company, you must ensure the transfer of ownership was validly executed before it entered Bona Vacantia, or that it has been properly disclaimed from the Crown’s ownership. Alternatively look at routes for restoring the company etc.

If you’re considering dissolving a company, you must have a clear, documented plan to assign or transfer all IP assets. Don’t assume they just ‘follow you over’.

The BV list was taken off the government website in 2025 after a BBC Investigation found that a crime syndicate was likely using it to commit millions of pounds worth of fraud. As the list gave the details of unclaimed estates in England and Wales, these criminals were using the information to create fake wills and inherit money and property. Details of about 6,000 unclaimed estates were listed and anyone could view them on the gov.uk website.

The Bona Vacantia unclaimed estates list was reinstated in January 2026 following a review which found no evidence it had been the source of fraud.

Could the BV list also be a resource in a dispute? Looking again at CRYSTAL VAPE – Bargain Busting Ltd (BB) was able to, smartly, acquire earlier trademarks from third parties to bolster its position. BB had prior rights to rely on.

What if you could purchase a prior right from the BV list that trumps a claimant’s? Obviously taking heed of ‘non use’ issues etc; could that be your Uno reverse card?

Ultimately always check your IP chain of title, whether this is because you are bringing a claim, acquiring an asset, selling/transferring or any other dealing. As well as the BV list being a potential source of assets, you don’t want to accidentally contribute to it!

How We Can Help

At Asenda Law, we don’t just help you secure copyright and design rights, we make sure you fully understand your ownership and rights.

Our goal is to give you peace of mind that your creative assets are protected from misuse or imitation, both in the UK and beyond.