bnb-side, a small hospitality business located on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, has become the subject of a trademark dispute with Airbnb. The guesthouse was established in 2024 as a fundraising venture for b-side, an arts festival that has operated in the area for nearly two decades. The bed and breakfast’s name combines “bn” with “b-side” to create “bnb-side,” using the acronym that traditionally stands for bed and breakfast.
Airbnb, the San Francisco-based accommodation platform valued at approximately $100 billion, initiated legal action in May by sending correspondence to the small enterprise demanding it cease attempts to register its business under that name. The company has based its opposition on three separate grounds: potential consumer confusion between the two brands, the possibility that bnb-side could benefit from or damage Airbnb’s reputation, and claims that bnb-side might profit by misrepresenting itself as affiliated with the larger company. Airbnb has rejected compromise proposals involving alternative formatting, such as using different capitalization, an ampersand, or the word “and” instead.
For bnb-side’s leadership, the stakes extend beyond a naming preference. Replacing signage, redesigning websites, and updating marketing materials would require substantial financial and volunteer resources that the social enterprise cannot easily spare. More significantly, the bed and breakfast currently generates nearly half of b-side festival’s annual revenue of £250,000, making a rebranding potentially catastrophic to the festival’s financial stability.
Trademark experts have expressed skepticism about Airbnb’s prospects in the dispute. Multiple intellectual property specialists noted that “BnB” has long functioned as a widely understood descriptive phrase in common usage. Companies House records indicate that 14 accommodation businesses successfully registered names containing “bnb” over the past decade. Legal observers suggested Airbnb may face an uphill legal battle, particularly given that the company itself originally adopted the term because it was already descriptive and universally recognized. The case remains pending before the Intellectual Property Office, with no ruling yet issued.
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