Ferrari sued by Ford

[gibells]

Reminds me of how they tried to sue Triumph Motorcycles for the use of Thunderbird. Turns out that Triumph had actually used it first and only lent it to Ford. Ford lost. Lol.

[f1aussie]

I think that Ferrari were arrogant in not responding to Ford, and that made matters worse.
Ferrari are not above IP Law...they are in trouble.
This WILL cost them money, the question will be how much???
Very silly of them, they should have just called their truck, er sorry F1 machine the F2011...just a thought!!!

[n_anirudh]

Well clearly, there is a difference between the way they are spelled

Ford has it as F-150
while its just F150 for the Ferrari, although the pronunciation is the same.

Ferrari's intentions were clear from the start, it was for the 150th anniversary of unification of Italy.
Its not a competitor for trucks in the US market.

IMHO, a cheap dig from Ford..

Maybe Ferrari will change it to F150 Italia, similar to F2003GA

[xpensive]

IP rights can be tricky, but it would suprise me if they applied to an obviously not-for-sale product such as an F1 car?

Ford's "damages" and Ferrari's "profits", what the hell does that mean and how do you measure it anyway?

Has Fords sales of their F-150 truck been hurt by a Ferrari F1 car almost sharing the modelname with F150?

[timbo]

Where the hearing would be held?
If in Europe IMO Ford's chances are slim.
Besides, they have to prove F-150 equates F150.

[mrmole]

Hi First post so hello.

I think Ford pretty much have to do this. IRC Trademarks are a use it or lose it sort of thing. If Ford did not try and defend their trademark they risk losing it.

So yes it is silly, but these laws can be funny old things.

[horse]

I'm not sure Ford has a great argument really. I see a few discrepancies such as:

• Ferrari have been building their own F cars since 1987 - this is the only time Ford has complained,
  
  One is a mass produced truck - the other a limited edition track only sports car,
  
  Ford use "F-#" - Ferrari use "F#".

On the other hand, either way, this is a good way of advertising their vehicles.

[f1aussie]

KNowing the business world, there will be a negiotiated settlement at Ferrari's expense...they really did stuff up as a "-" means nothing in this area...it is called passing off...in other worlds resembling the brand...

[gibells]

I'm not sure you're all not seeing this through scarlet tinted glasses. Think about it, a hyphen here or a space there makes naff all difference to the way you say it. And whether the vehicle is for sale or not makes no difference. Ferrari are in the automobile game, just as Ford are.

Try seeing how Ferrari would react if Ford came out with a F-458 double cab...

[horse]

I'm not sure you're all not seeing this through scarlet tinted glasses.

I don't even like Ferarri that much. Depending on the performance of the car the analogy with the truck might turn out to be quite fitting.

Try seeing how Ferrari would react if Ford came out with a F-458 double cab...

You're probably all correct, however, a trademark is a trademark and should be protected even if the product is only vaguely related.

[gridwalker]

I still find the legislation in this area to be quite bewildering. Back in the 90s, when British Telecom changed their name to BT, one of the main reasons for doing this was because the words "British" and "Telecom" were too generic to be trademarked.

If words that explicitly describe a company are too generic, then how come abstract combinations of letters and numbers (which could apply to any manner of things) are allowed?

Even pronounciation can be copyrighted, as has been demonstrated with the Peugeot 1007 : TV presenters are forbidden from referring to it by the individual numbers in its name (e.g. "one double oh seven") as we do with all other Peugeot models (e.g "three oh six") because "double oh seven" is a trade mark belonging to the owners of the James Bond franchise.

1007 is not the same as 007 and the products they relate to couldn't be more different, yet the trademark still applies.

Sometimes I swear that if companies spent more time on their products and less time on litigation, the world would be much more advanced than it is today.

[horse]

Even pronounciation can be copyrighted, as has been demonstrated with the Peugeot 1007 : TV presenters are forbidden from referring to it by the individual numbers in its name (e.g. "one double oh seven") as we do with all other Peugeot models (e.g "three oh six") because "double oh seven" is a trade mark belonging to the owners of the James Bond franchise.

1007 is not the same as 007 and the products they relate to couldn't be more different, yet the trademark still applies.

This must have some common sense standing, though, in that the Bond franchise has a car company tie-up. Aston are building the One 77, which is not directly Bond in title, but very Bond at the same time.

On the other hand those sliding doors on the 1007 would be pretty useful for high speed gun fights...

[adam2007]

...

ferrari f150
ford 150

i dont see the problem? not like ferrari have called it the "ford 150" how petite really cum on. its just a number

[gridwalker]

@Horse : Bond has also driven a Lotus Esprit (submarine edition) and a remote control BMW, so it is hardly as if the Aston connection is set in stone ...

EDIT :
I just found a full list of Bond's vehicles and Aston Martin make up a surprisingly small minority of the cars featured ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ja ... d_vehicles

[Lindz]

And now for the comedy hour:

F-150® is an established and important Ford trademark and the name of the best-seller in Ford's F-Series, America's best-selling trucks for 34 years and best-selling vehicles for 29 years. Through extensive sales and advertising and exclusive use, Ford has earned invaluable goodwill in the F-150® trademark. That hard-won goodwill is seriously threatened by Ferrari's adoption of "F150."

When Ferrari announced the name of its race car as "F150," Ford asked Ferrari to change the name. Ferrari did not respond in a timely manner, leaving Ford no choice but to take legal action to protect its important brand and trademark rights.