The landmark legal battle over who owns the rights to stage Bongo's Bingo events has been won - by Jonny Bongo.
The case started almost a year ago, and saw Jonny Bongo's firm Shua Ltd battle against Liverpool venue Camp and Furnace over a number of factors relating to the who can stage the famous events.
Together with his business partner, a defiant joint statement released on Wednesday afternoon said the High Court battle against Baltic venue Camp and Furnace was "horribly tough", but they were "thrilled" at the outcome.
Jonny Bongo - real name Jonathan Lacey - and Joshua Burke, of Shua Ltd, were judged to be the creators of the Bongo’s Bingo concept and to own the intellectual rights to the brand.
Earlier today, the Liverpool Echo revealed that Shua had won the landmark court case.
Their full statement reads:
“We are thrilled to have won this case unequivocally, with the judge agreeing that, on the basis of the evidence presented, we are the founders of Bongo’s Bingo and we created it from the very start.
"Camp and Furnace played no part whatsoever in this process and was simply a venue which housed the show we created in Liverpool.
"We want to make it clear that the claims the directors from Camp and Furnace made during the case were all rejected by the judge after he considered the evidence. Every single one of their claims were rejected and we won all counts of the case.
“That we had to go to Manchester High Court to prove what we already knew was a shame and a huge test of our resolve, but in the end it had to be done and in the end we believed by telling the truth we would win and that truth and justice would prevail.
“We want to say a massive thanks to everyone who has supported us through this very difficult and challenging process.
"To our partners, families and friends, through to all of our employees a Bongo’s Bingo, to all of the other venues, suppliers and businesses we work with on a daily basis – this was horribly tough and a big strain on our lives.
"We also want to say a massive thanks to the public who supported us too and believed us – not just everyone who has played Bongo’s Bingo, but it felt to us like a much wider range of support from around the world, the messages that came in, the conversations with strangers, the sense of being believed we both felt.
"We lastly want to say huge thanks to our legal team of Napthens Solicitors and Barristers Paul Chaisty QC and Andrew Grantham who took us step by step through this process with their diligence, professionalism and discretion.
"We thank everyone for helping us through this, for believing us and for never doubting us.
"This is for everyone who has helped make Bongo’s Bingo what it is – from all our staff, our venues, the cleaners, the security – and most especially to all our amazing customers. It’s not just us. But legally, it was us.
“We are also really sorry for the general staff left at Camp who are affected by this, some who we worked with for many years and who played no part in the case.”
Following the outcome being announced, John Whittingslow of Napthens said: “The legal arguments that we submitted with Jonny and his business partner Josh proved that they were the co-founders of the brand, which was entirely conceived and designed by those two, and as a result they own full commercial rights.
“It was the perfect combination of Jonny’s creative genius and Josh’s business acumen which led to the growth from creation to an original one venue event and into an internationally successful business and the judge’s verdict will now allow them to grow the company even further.
"Napthens looks forward to providing continuing support to the guys on what is already a very exciting story which Liverpool is rightfully very proud of.”
Camp and Furnace has been contacted for a comment following the outcome of the case.
What was the case all about?
The case began when Baltic Triangle venue Camp wanted exclusive rights to hold Bongo's Bingo events on Merseyside, with the bitter legal row having begun in the High Court back in September.
The venue also demanded a share of profit from Shua Ltd.
Shua, on the other hand, was adamant that Mr Lacey and Mr Burke “conceived and designed” the brand, and wanted to prevent Camp itself from hosting the events.
Earlier this year, Camp and Furnace dropped the 'Bongo' name from its Bingo events - in an interim move ahead of the High Court judgement
The pair initially launched the nights while the latter was working at Camp, but Mr Burke left the firm in 2015 to take the event 'on the road'.
It's now become a huge success at major venues across the UK and the world, with events played as far afield as Dubai and Australia.
Shua Ltd's Liverpool events are held at fellow Baltic Triangle venue Content and have been for over six months - despite only receiving planning permission from Liverpool Council last month.
