12:23 PM EDT, 06/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Alaska Air ( ALK ) lost a court appeal in London seeking to overturn a trademark decision last year on paying $160 million in royalties to Virgin Group, even though the US airline no longer uses the Virgin brand.

Court of Appeal Judge Stephen Phillips said Tuesday in a ruling that a high court interpretation of the licensing deal was correct and rejected Alaska Air's ( ALK ) appeal.

Virgin America merged with Alaska Air ( ALK ) in 2018, but before the merger, Virgin Group granted Virgin America the exclusive use of some Virgin names and trademarks, according to the latest court ruling.

Under the trademark licensing deal from 2014, Virgin America had to make minimum royalty payments to Virgin of about $8 million a year for 25 years, From July 2019, Alaska Air ( ALK ) stopped making those payments to Virgin, court documents said.

In March 2023, High Court Judge Christopher Hancock said Alaska Air ( ALK ) had to pay Virgin at least the minimum royalty each year. Alaska Air ( ALK ) appealed that decision.

Alaska Air ( ALK ) didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by MT Newswires.

Shares of Alaska Air ( ALK ) fell 2% in recent trading Tuesday,

Price: 40.53, Change: -0.82, Percent Change: -1.98