There was an interesting published by the BBC recently,
"Virgin sues partner over claims about its brand
value".
The story
Richard Branson's company, Virgin Enterprises, is involved
in an unusual dispute with a US train company called Brightline.
The background is that Virgin Enterprises has granted Brightline a
licence to operate a train service in the USA under the Virgin
brand. The service connects Miami and West Palm Beach in Florida
(with the long-term plan being to eventually extend to Disney World
in Orlando), and it's a 20-year deal.
The train service has, however, not operated since March 2020,
which was of course when the pandemic hit. Brightline is now
seeking to cancel the deal. The basis for the cancellation is this:
the Virgin brand has been tarnished as a result of COVID-19,
it's no longer "a brand of international high
repute". This, of course, relates to the fact that COVID-19
has made life very difficult for Virgin Atlantic, with the
