The German brand is ‘exploring options’ to take legal action against the Chinese giant due to the similarity with the name of the Mini compact car brand. BYD’s strategy to rename the Seagull compact to Dolphin Mini in markets like Brazil and Mexico seems to have completely displeased the BMW group, owner of the British Mini brand. Evidence of this comes from Australia, where the Chinese manufacturer recently applied for the patent registration of the name. The application is still pending confirmation, and if it’s up to BMW’s will, it will never be approved. In a recent statement to the Australian press, a spokesperson for the local division of Mini Australia confirmed that the BMW group is aware of BYD’s applications for the ‘Dolphin Mini’ registration and is considering suing the Chinese company to prevent the use of the name. “The matter is currently under review by our legal department, and we choose not to provide further comments on the ongoing issue,” he said. The idea is to prevent any type of similarity or association of the Chinese compact’s name with that of the English brand. It’s worth noting that BMW has held the registered trademark “Mini” since March 1997 (i.e., for over 25 years) and has controlled the name “MiniCooper” since June 1996. No other manufacturer has ever applied for a trademark registration of the “Mini” nomenclature for use in a motor vehicle in Australia. Luke Todd, the Managing Director of EVDirect, the company responsible for marketing BYD vehicles in Australia, said, “It is a normal course of business to prevent others from registering BYD model names” and “does not confirm that the vehicle is entering the country, nor does it rule it out.” If indeed launched in Australia as the Dolphin Mini, the Seagull will end up competing for customers with the MiniCooper EV itself and will share part of the name with it. Moreover, it will likely cost significantly less.