A tiny six-room guesthouse on the Isle of Portland is taking on one of the world’s biggest technology companies in a trademark battle that has already been described by legal experts as an “uphill battle” for Airbnb.
The dispute pits bnb-side, a social enterprise established to help secure the future of Portland’s much-loved b-side arts festival, against San Francisco-based Airbnb, the global accommodation giant.
And the three letters at the centre of the dispute are — quite literally — “bnb”.
The extraordinary David-and-Goliath battle was highlighted by The Guardian on Monday, which reported that Airbnb has sent three legal letters objecting to bnb-side’s attempt to register the name used by the guesthouse since it opened in 2024.
The Guardian reported that bnb-side says the “bnb” simply stands for bed and breakfast, an abbreviation that has been widely used for decades.
Rocca Holly-Nambi, director of b-side, told the newspaper: “We thought the name was both really obvious and really cool.”
The organisation says it chose the name because b-side had already existed for almost 20 years and the guesthouse was created as a new income stream for the arts festival.
That income stream is now crucial.
According to b-side chair Raina Summerson, bnb-side generates almost half of the festival’s annual turnover of around £250,000.
Losing the name, the organisation argues, could therefore mean far more than simply replacing a sign above the door.
Its website, social-media presence, promotional material and established reputation could all have to be rebuilt.
“We’d have to painstakingly build our reputation and brand back up from scratch all over again,” Holly-Nambi told The Guardian.
Airbnb has opposed the name on three grounds, according to the newspaper: that customers could confuse the businesses, that bnb-side could benefit from or damage Airbnb’s reputation, and that customers could believe the Portland guesthouse was officially connected with Airbnb.
But trademark experts quoted by The Guardian appear far from convinced that Airbnb has an easy case.
Craig Beaumont, a trademark attorney at Barker Brettell, said “BnB has long been widely understood as shorthand for a descriptive phrase”, adding that descriptive phrases are generally available for public use.
The Guardian also reported that Companies House records show 14 accommodation companies containing “bnb” in their names have successfully registered businesses during the past decade.
Darren Meale, a trademark litigation specialist at Simmons & Simmons, described Airbnb’s position as particularly ambitious, while Lee Curtis of HGF suggested the company could be “testing the limits” of trademark law.
There is also an uncomfortable public-relations dimension.
Airbnb has become a hugely powerful force in the accommodation market, including on Portland. bnb-side manager Cat Wightman told The Guardian that the organisation had watched local hospitality businesses disappear while some residents struggled to afford homes.
She described the dispute with Airbnb as “pretty bitter”.
For the tiny Portland organisation, however, the response is defiant.
“It’s terrifying but we’re not going to back down,” Holly-Nambi said.
The case is now before the UK Intellectual Property Office, which will ultimately decide the trademark dispute.
For Portland, it is no longer simply a question of three letters.
It is a question of whether a multi-billion-dollar global corporation can prevent a tiny community enterprise from using three letters that millions of people already understand to mean bed and breakfast.
The original Guardian report: Portland B&B takes on Airbnb in trademark battle over three little letters.
Read the full Guardian investigation
