The Ford Motor Company has sued Ferrari in a US Federal court accusing the Italian firm of cybersquatting and trademark infringement for allegedly misappropriating the famous F-150 name. Ferrari decided to call its new F1 car the F150 in order to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification and and created a website called http://www.ferrarif150.com. Ford claims that it has suffered irreparable harm to its F-150 trademark and wants the judge to block Ferrari from using the trademark in the US, which would include importing, manufacturing or selling any producing that uses the F-150 name.
Ford also wants damages and is asking for Ferrari to give up any revenue and profits earned in the U.S. through the use of the F150 name. Ford also wants $100,000 in damages pursuant to the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which protects against Internet domain names that confuse the public over the true source of products and services.
Ford has been using the F-150 name on its pickup trucks since 1975. A trademark registration was made in 1995 and since 1997 the F-150 has earned Ford more than $180 billion.
joeblogsf1 
You were so excited you blogged it twice and tweeted it on your old Twitter feed too!
As a US citizen, I feel as embarrassed about this as the USF1 venture.
Easy to confuse the two. I’m sure a lot of Ford truck buyers mistakenly went looking for Ferrari GP cars.
Is this not something?
Pass me a Kleenex…
Oh wait, can’t say that, pass me a tissue.
I would have thought that Ford would have been neutral on this, considering the designation is for a Formula One race car.
Live and learn.
Cybersquatting? Ford were planning to register ‘ferrarif150.com’ themselves, were they?
I wonder if General Dynamics will follow suit and sue HRT for similar reasons…
Are Ford really worried that Americans won’t be able to tell the difference between an oxcart based oversize pickup and an F1 car?
Desperate.
As an American, as a Texan in fact, where pick ups like the F-150 rule the road, I find this ridiculous. Clearly there is nothing more than a cultural misunderstanding here, heavens knows Ferrari is not trying to cash in on Ford’s image.
The trademark lawsuit was predictable, the cybersquatting nonsense could only happen in America.
In the rest of the world the first 7 letters of the domain name remove all possible confusion.
Auch!
Actually I would think the name is a bit of a PR boost for Ford. I loved the pictures posted of that big truck thrashing the F1 field!
But I understand Ford are not too happy on Ferrari cashing in on the merchandise.
Immediately after learning of the name and seeing the first americans post about the name, I had the feeling this is a bit of a blooper for Monti.
Wow! really Ford? You honestly think people will compare your already crumby, cheaply built plastic trucks to a Ferrari… and not even a road car… a racing car… total idiots. This is why I will never buy an American car. Cheap Cheap Cheap junk.
*groan*
Since the GT40 won LeMans, Ferrari has nothing but grumbles for the other F company…..
😀
Ford are crazy, have they even asked Ferrari to alter the designation or gone straight to court? F-150 isn’t even the same as F150, the two products can in no way be confused and even if they were, Ford’s brand success would not benefit Ferrari. Something must be happening at a higher level because this action seems foolish.
What the! How stupid is that! The reason for the name is to quite clearly celebrate the Italian anniversary, & if anything would assist the image of Fords rather more sluggish tank.
On top of that, F1 is not in America & as you would have thought that the f1 team is a different legal entity (such as group/team lotus – albeit team probably owned by group) to the global car manufacturer you would wonder whether the US court is able to dicipline an italian based company that does not operate within it’s borders.
Although as they’ve filed a lawsuit there must be some claim. Some (groups of) people!
Fantastic! Hilarious! Wonderful!
We all commented on Ferrari using the Ford pickup marque but never though it would turn out like this. You couldn’t make this stuff up.
F1 has everything!
Obviously, this would happend only in America!
I wonder if F-150 trucks are used in any other parts of the world…
Ford uses Cougar in one of their products. Could environmentalist sue them for using that name to make millions too?
Should be interesting to see how the american judge judges this one…
Irreparable harm?!
Probably still got some sour grapes left over from when Henry tried to buy them out and got turned down… 😉
This is great! A la the Jordan 191, roll on the Ferrari 150F and a shiny new half-ton for Monty.
I am reminded of the interesting history between Ford and Ferrari (see wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GT40#History). I’m not trying to say that there is a connection between the two, but I doubt there is much love lost between the two organizations.
Silly though this may seem, companies have to protect their trade names, especially when they are worth billions.
I can see it happening everyday. Someone goes out looking for a $30k work truck, and ends up with a Ferrari Formula 1 car.
I think Stefano Domenicalli and much of Ferrari’s brand department are all sensible guys. It was quite obvious after all the jokes, that a company like Ford will try and protect the brand name of its best selling product.
It’s only natural that jokes started all over the Internet and obviously the F-150 brand was tarnished.
The question is who would force such a name in Ferrari? Who’s not sensible enough to see such an obvious development? Who’s got “hidden” political ambitions?
The answer can be only one – Luca The Bella Figura!
I think that since he declared that Ferrari will win the title after Indy ’05, his madness must have been obvious!
Ha! Now I’m just waiting for General Dynamics to sue HRT for naming their new car the F111.
ROFL! I’d like to see them wriggle out of this one.
I believe that the ford F150 is only sold in north America and the nearest track would be the Canada GP so there is no overlap with the name and therefore should not cause confusion. In any case how many people use the F1 cars model name rather than the make (only the people who are deeply into F1)?
There is no need for all this nonsense. Ford needs to grow up. Next years Ferrari will have a different name – its not as though they are trying to steal the name or make Ford look bad.
Anyway, Ford are no longer in F1 so it shouldnt bother them.
Maybe they should also sue IMATION-TDK (their Flash Drive uses the name “Defender F150 USB 16GB”) as well 🙂 (that is probably more serious as an american can actually buy that product and also use it in a ford – that would cause confusion if askes someone to pick up his F150 🙂 ).
Irreparable harm!
I was only looking at the Ferrari F150 the other day and thinking that it looks exactly like a banged up Ford Truck.
I’m sure the Ferrari team spent many hours at the drawing board thinking that the quickest way around Monza surely must be in an open back pick-up but aero rules are aero rules so one must assume they thought they’d design something that looks a bit like an F1 car.
I know Ford are short of money but trying to get it out of Ferrari is usually an expensive way to lose even more!
Come to think of it I think that the new McLaren Transit could be on thin ice too!
Get over yourself Ford. Nobody with any common sense is going to confuse an F-150 pickup truck with the 2011 Ferrari F1 car! As F1 won’t be in America this year the suit will probably only impact toy model sales of this years car.
Being a lawyer in the US must be a hilarious profession at times. My personal favourites – the woman who sued Maserati in the 80’s because the car sped up when she hit the brake only to have it proved that she infact pressed the accelerator… and the woman who sued McDonalds after she spilt hot coffee on herself.
More importantly how can a company make $180 billion in 13yrs on one cheap to produce model and still be running at a loss? Astounding.
Ooo, nobody ’round here saw *that* one coming, now did they? 😉
Ha, I’d just read this article “http://www.leftlanenews.com/report-ford-to-sue-ferrari-over-use-of-f150-moniker.html” so I came here to see if you’d heard of it. You’re always on top of it Joe!
So you’re telling me the F-150 I’ve just bought is some thing called a Ferrari and not a pick-up truck?!
I have to say that, as an American, I laughed my ass off when I saw Ferrari using the name, “F150”. I have always loved Ferrari, but their use of this name is hysterical, from our perspective on this side of the pond.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.theautolog.com/uploads/southerncowboy10/6396/1990-Ford-F150-7484.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.theautolog.com/membersrides.php%3Fu%3Dsoutherncowboy10&usg=__Te8yYGMhgzAx6TSCOlh9Vk5Pki0=&h=300&w=400&sz=120&hl=en&start=0&sig2=bVDtbI2EncPxa38GAUEEtQ&zoom=1&tbnid=GDZa9gk8g4LJfM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=174&ei=ah5TTb-KHoK78gbSzpTdCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1990%2BFord%2BF150%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D667%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=980&vpy=216&dur=149&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=186&ty=93&oei=ah5TTb-KHoK78gbSzpTdCA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0
Ok . . . I understand not wanting someone to profit from your trademark, but this is just a little over the top. Do the executives at Ford really think they have suffered harm over Ferrari naming their 2011 F1 challenger F150? Please . . . give me a break. I could see if Ferrari named one of their road cars F-150 . . . but a race car that is celebrating unification.
I own 3 Ford vehicles, but in my opinion this is just petty.
If I made a truck, and someone said it looked like a Ferrari, I’d be delighted!
Thank god they never launched a ford lotus.
Oh, my God!
Really. Silly Season? Silliest. I shall be counter suing for a pacemaker, at this rate.
But holding a trademark obliges you to sue for infringement, or else you loose the lot. That’s why, when you get one, it’s so valuable. But the government, whichever one, won’t protect it for you. The US is rather keen on customs seizures, so are we. But only the biggest get to play that game.
Over to the rest of you . . .
– j
Rumour has it Ford is basing their whole case on this picture!
http://www.twitpic.com/3u2csj/full
Meanwhile in America…
Jeez…
Really Ford? Seriously, what are you 2 years old. I’ve defended you against Chevy fans for years and still own the ’69 Mustang that my mom bought new….but this is really chaps my ass. Grow up already and start being an adult. Nobody is going to confuse your bloated carry all with an F1 racing car. There is room enough for the two of you, especially if it is only gonna last a few years. Or are you still sore that Enzo didn’t sell out back in the ’60’s…I thought you proved your point already with the 1,2,3 at LeMans!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You have got to hand it to Ford: assuming April 1st hasn’t come early, they know how to have a laugh. I’m sure there are truly millions of people who will confuse the new Ferrari Grand Prix car with their world-beating pick-up truck.
But then I saw a TV show here this morning where most of the Iowa citizens sitting in the TV studio raised their hands when asked if the US President was a Muslim.
Fancy those awful Italians trying to pass off that sexy, bullet of a racing car with their nice dependable truck. The nerve of it…………
That’s pretty funny 🙂
As the cars were being launched I did wonder how many teams vetoed the name F1-11, so as not to upset the lucrative Libyan market…
They have a case, only last week I went to buy a ford pickup truck and accidentally walked out with this totally impracticable open wheel race car.
Maybe someone at Ford has a very long memory and is still smarting from the fiasco in the 60s when Ford thought they were in with a serious chance of buying Ferrari – they did get their revenge with the GT40 back then, but some people can never let things go …
Considering that a Ferrari employee tried to prevent me from taking photographs at a Ferrari store of the emblem, I think it’s justified that they get sued… 😛
I said tried. I took many photos, also of the emblem. Are you kidding me, that I can’t photograph your emblem? Go back sleeping at your stables, you old silly horse… I promise I’ll never take any photos at any of your stores again – oh by the way, this also means that I will never buy anything from you. har har har.
Get a life, Ford! I’m sure there are a lot of prospective buyers who will confuse a Ferrari F1 with a bottom-of-the-line Ford pick-up truck.
Chalk up one for the lawyers.
So half a century later Ford is taking Ferrari to court instead of attempting to buy it or beat it on track at Le Mans… That’s some long-lasting feud! 🙂
I’d watch this one. The last time these two fell out, Ford ended up building the GT40 and winning Le Mans in a fit of pique.
“suffered irreparable harm to its F-150 trademark…”
Ford isn’t very confident about Ferrari’s chances this year, eh?
Ford has suffered irreparable harm by being associated with Ferrari! Ha ha ha! Oh ho ho!
When did butt kickin’ get it done good ole uncle sam develop this case of ultra sensitivity? Why are Americans such wooses?
I suppose it could just be a publicity stunt. Might as well milk it for what they can get.
Awesome! Just what F1 needs – more court cases.
How Ford reckon an association with a Ferrari could harm their brand, however, is beyond me. Didn’t Ford once try to buy Ferrari…..
Sorry, can’t help but chuckle and feel Ferrari deserve this on general (karmic) principle – what goes around comes around…
I guess Ford had to act to protect its trademark, but they surely look like idiots.
What a nonsense. Typical America. Opportunity to make $
It begs the question, “who is more crazy?”……Ferrari for using the name of a truck on their new state of the art F1 challenger, or Ford for claiming it’s going to hurt them??
I laughed HARD…
So Ford wants the judge to block Ferrari from importing or selling any product using the F150 name in the US. So all Ferrari has to do is not use the F150 name on the T shirts and caps then, after all the Ferrari F150 doesn’t appear to be on the Ferrari dealers stock lists.
I love the cybersquatting accusation, after all I’m sure no one can get confused going to http://www.ferrarif150.com when looking for a Ford pick up, unless they somehow imagine Ferrari would ever build their own version of the pickup.
Shouldn’t Ford get on with suing Suzuki first, I’m sure we would also confuse the Suzuki Satria F150 with a pick up truck just as easily as we would with the Ferrari.
‘Irreparable harm’? Good luck proving that one! If your brand is going to be diluted, surely Ferrari elbowing in isn’t going to lower the value at all.
yeah, ferrarif150.com – immediately makes me think of Ford… (does the sarcasm come across?)
What The?
‘Scuderia Ferrari’ (Motorsport Ferrari) not FIAT-Ferrari (Consumer Automobile Ferrari) are using “F150” purely to identify a F1 Racecar in 2011. It clearly makes that distiction of the http://www.ferrarif150.com main page, and all pages therein.
What is the confusion with a Ford F-150 pickup?
Where is the confusion with a pickup truck possible?
I’d have thought a pretty modest FORD Motor Co. vehicle product like the F-150 is doing better out of this coincidental likeness to the F1 legend, than the reverese.
Is this a suit really a Ford US commentary on the relative non-brightnesss of their pickup consumers? C’mon…
If you type in the sequence F150 into any WWW search engine, you get 3-squillion link refs to Ford F150, an number to various parts and appliances with F150 in their part# sequences, and ONE (1) Scuderia Ferrari site.
And the USA wonders why the rest of the world thinks Litigation Craziness is rife ‘stateside’ to the point of utter madness. Next, FORD US will sue people for using the same shade of blue that they use in their Blue Oval Badges, without their licence. JF
This is just asinine. If Ferrari were marketing a consumer vehicle by the F150 name then I could see Ford suing over trademark infringement, but they are not. Call me crazy, but I don’t think people are going to confuse one of the world’s most advanced single-seater race cars with a run of the mill pickup truck. Even people with no knowledge of F1 know Ferrari doesn’t make pickup trucks!
How stupid were Ferrari. I used to work in IP law in Australia and Ferrari were one of our clients – and one of the best at protecting their own trade marks and now they do this
apparently they ignored the “cease and dessit letters” so they deserve to be sued.
Why am I not surprised that an American company is taking out a frivolous lawsuit because two things have the same name.
Britain should sue them for using the names New York, Washington, Birmingham, Hampshire and virtually every other place name they have.
Actually why not sue them for using our language in the first place…
That really is bull. As an automotive fan I really think it silly that they care. To my mind this is an silly uptight old-business mentality. Dot Com businesses would not operate the same way. As soon as this generation retires the world will be a better place [end rant]. Just think of how many cars share similar names? How many GTis or other widely used monikers get used by different names. But whereas letters can be used for different meanings, such as an abbreviation or what have you. Numbers often correspond with something, engine displacement or something not unique to it,whereas a name is brandness, as unique as a Zonda…
This is ludicrous, and silly. Now the temper between this two will sour publicly. New media causes the consumer to finally think of corporations as real people. Whereas in olden eras a business was simply big brother, an entity of suits. Today corporations have consumer crafted actions and motivations. it has a corporate mentality, a purpose, think Google or Red Bull… When you instigate in the muddling of the perceived realness of a corporation, its individualism, its drive; you to cause a rift that resonates with people. The world of Facebook, Tweets and such make everything into a world sized school yard. The flashy kid just kick mud at jock; people will define their ethics by assessing the scenario, who do they support. A seed of bias is planted and people will act out in the future based on how they assessed sympathy at that time. Both entities will lose as blame will be placed on them by some portion of society no matter what. Now Joe America who attains wealth will move from a respect simply for ford to now a sympathy for Ford and an anger upon Ferrari. Joe America will not buy a Ferrari now, maybe a Shelby instead, put the rest aside for the kids education fund. The Economist had an interesting special article a few weeks ago about the increasing number of millionaires the world over… There are now more millionaires than Australians! No Wonder Bernie keeps the dough coming, He can’t stop how many people are ready to throw money at him. I feel for him I really do, he doesn’t have much of a choice and we make him out to be such a villain. Except with Tilke, he is a villain with all that, thats just greed. He’s part owner of the company! Of course he’ll get a cut of this huge industry, he’s spending other peoples money.
I’m not sure which is more stupid. The fact that Ferrari chose the name of a truck in the first place, or the fact that Ford is suing Ferrari. Got a coin to flip?
How can they even pretend “ferrarif150.com” confuses anyone?
It isn’t the first time Ford and Ferrari are at war, isn’t it?
well, Americans and their lawsuits, i didnt expect anything else from Ford, grab money from anywhere you can, and just continue making shit road cars.
GO FORD!
Perhaps this will open the floodgates and we’ll have similar action against Ford from the high-class call girls of London (Escort), the Southern Spanish Tourist Board (Granada), Patrick Moore (Galaxy) and the Endoscopy Industry (Probe).
Here’s hoping.
I am an ex-Ford employee from the days of Mr Ford II and the unforgettable Walter Hayes. This is a complete outrage and a farce of monumental proportions. What came first-Italy- 150 years ago or this truck?! What benefit could Ferrari possibly gain from associating with someone else’s huge truck. Zero. I am quite certain it never never crossed their minds. Two red cars which everybody calls Ferrari pure and simple in a championship which might one day come to America-assuming the track gets built. This is a perfect way to piss off the whole of Italy and all F1 fans the World over. F1 cars have been called trucks for all the wrong reasons over the years so come on Ford-grow up. What I am afraid of is that they will find what the Americans call a hanging judge-bigoted, ultra right wing jingoistic “patriot” who will throw the book at Ferrari, after all they are beastly spaghetti munching foreigners.
Yes, Ford are doing well-thanks to the new range of cars designed in Europe and they do sell a lot of trucks. Fine. But that is no excuse for this farcical lawsuit. If they have any sense they’ll drop it. Now.
I knew this was coming… Ford, as much as i respect what they have been doing lately, are very very wrong on this one. the Ferrari F150 is not a production car so their arguments are not really air tight. second this is an F1 car, F1! if anything Ford is the one that is getting a piggy back ride by filing a lawsuit and going to the media….i would be surprised if a judge that knows the difference between red and blue rules in favor… if i were a judge i would send this case to the dustbin and fine Ford for trying to get media attention by contempt of the court….
Could be an echo of bad blood from le mans in the 60s eh? I thought ford got the better of Ferrari back then…..
Are we now going to see general dynamics go after HRT over the F111??
Interestingly at the bottom of this entry in your blog was a google ad for F150 RHD NEW FORD AUSTRALIA….. So even google picks it as a Ford !!!
This is ridiculous ! Why would a Ford customer care about how Ferrari named their F1 car in 2011 ? There’s a big difference in both cars 🙂 Oh well, what if Ferrari win the title ? F150 will be a widespread word in the motor world – will Ford be angry again for that free advertising ? I know the names are the same, but if you can’t make the difference, then probably you don’t have a driver license as well. …
Perhaps this will open the floodgates and we’ll have similar action against Ford from the high-class call girls of London (Escort), the Southern Spanish Tourist Board (Granada), Patrick Moore (Galaxy) and the Endoscopy Industry (Probe).
Here’s hoping.
The biggest irony is that outside of America, 99% of people wouldn’t have a clue that Ford sold something called an F150, and inside America 99% of people don’t care about F1.
I’m no legal expert, but as far as I am aware, companies have a legal duty to show that they are willing to defend/protect trademarks that they own, otherwise they risk losing those trade marks.
If it was baby food naming itself F150, they wouldn’t have to do anything, but because it is in a different industry, but I guess that the Ferrari F150 branding is close enough in industry and use that they probably have to do this purely for legal reasons around defending their trademark.
Seriously, cyber-squatting?? Is that like with two girls and a drinking utensil? Ford must be having a laugh, in the same way as when they designed the dash on my Focus.
Ferrari sued a guy in Italy, whose family name is Ferrari, from using his own name in a domain name.
see: http://bit.ly/hW2Mf6
Well Etoire Bugatti called the Bently a camion so there is precedent 😉
Did you see the two logos?
ferraris is the top one
I assume this all comes down to protecting a registered trademark, and avoiding the F150 designation on cars becoming a generic term, rather than confusing truck/F1 car buyers. Should Ford ignore this use of their trademark, in a similar class of product, it could be used as evidence later to show that they were cool with other vehicles being called F150. The phrase could then become generic, leading to trademark issues.
It is similar to Portakabin who, quite rightly, protect their product name from being misused. There are Portakabins which are made by the Portakabin company, anything else is a portable temporary building. If Ford have a registered trademark for motor vehicles with the designation F150, they need to protect it.
Maybe we should just let the European Court of Human Rights decide the issue.
I think Ford should build a new small pickup truck and call it the Testa Rossa. Oh, the howls of protest we would hear!
Ford is starting a huge recall on F-150s
http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=13968364
Suing Ferrari can be a good “weapon of mass distraction” and a cheap way to give the brand some visibility. (Way cheaper than a SuperBowl Ad I think…)
Reading Joe’s blog you can’t help but growing a sort of disillusioned way to look at these things 🙂
@OXO That does look a bit too obvious. Ferrari clearly did think about it, and Ford is right ot sue.
I also agree with protecting the brand for fear of losing the trademark.
isn’t this a little bit of taking revenge on Ferrari who complained about Volvo using the name F40.
If I recall correctly, Volvo at that point was already/still owned by Ford.
How dare they, that will teach them Italians a lesson!
(hand on heart)
I pledge my alliegiance to the land of litigation….
Enough said.
This dispute is not about the cars, its about the use of the F150 brand name. Henry needs to protect it otherwise it will just become diluted and any Tom, Dick or Enzo will use it.
BasCB is bang on the money, those talking about pick-ups and F1 cars are so wide of the mark.
All the Ford and American bashing aside I have no doubt if the shoe was on the other foot Ferrari would be suing the pants off them.
I am amazed that Ferrari would choose such a ridiculous name as “F150”. If they wanted to pick a name that was already copyrighted, why couldn’t they take something more colorful like “Edsel”, “Chevette”, or “The Cat In The Hat”? Seriously, if the name is legally owned, it’s legally owned, end of story. The fact that they chose such a silly name, only downgrades it’s own image, while boosting Ford’s and at the same time, gives Ford the legal option for claiming something that is rightfully theirs. What do you think would happen id Ford came out with a new model and named it “Testarossa”? Does anyone in their right mind think Ferrari wouldn’t have their attorneys all over that in a heartbeat? Additionally, those here who are defending the move by Ferrari here, would be the very ones who would be crying “Foul!”. I worked with Ferrari and love them dearly, however they made an error here. One thing I am absolutely certain of however, is that if Mr. Ferrari were alive today, he would never have permitted the F150 name to sully the marque to begin with.
The most interesting part of this is that it had been speculated that Luca named the car F150 to help his political ambitions. If he was blindsided by this, I don’t think he or his advisers are ready to take on Berlusconi! This is quite a distraction.
Call that a F150? Shoot, I cain’t even get mah gun in it, let alone mah wimmin, mah dogs and mah beer. Them faggy yuropeens an’ their faggoty, useless vehicles!
RichT,
The word is “Vee-hickles”…
Has anyone else been following stories like this:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110202/23363812934/senator-wyden-asks-wtf-is-up-with-homeland-security-domain-seizures.shtml
Next we’ll have the Interest Equalization Tax reintroduced. Some people think that was one of the triggers to the Depression.
(though it seems everyone, everywhere, just adds compliance rules, in preference to tax)
I am getting very worried about the ratcheting up of forms of protectionism on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ferrari had better have a word with SBM, who took a decade to get the first ever recognition of a foreign trademark in the US.
But Langham might say that F150 is a Famous Mark. That’s as good as having God on your side, in US law, and it’s about the same everywhere.
My sole opinion is that someone, probably everyone, ought to stand down, cool down, and avoid the messy fight. I don’t see how anyone will benefit.
Paolo Verri,
Superbowl adverts are well documented, price per 30s inclusions, if you only search for them. Getting mixed up in a US court case is NOT cheaper, you’d spend as much in the waiting room for a meeting.
Just saying.
Anyhow, off to fill a script for some emergency dose beta blockers . . .:)
– j
Welcome to the wacky world of Intellectual Property. While copyrights are an automatic protection of published work, trademarks have to be vigorously defended (as others have pointed out) or they can be lost. Ford probably doesn’t want to sue, but they have been told by their lawyers that they HAVE to sue or they could lose their trademark, which would allow other truck companies to profit off of the F-150 brand they have spent so many years building up.
Here’s how to solve the problem: switch to binary!
Introducing the new Ferrari F10010110!
Out of all the comments here it appears only one or two posters are knowledgeable enough to understand that the issue is really about defense of trademarks, not public confusion of a pickup truck for an F1 racing car or winning monetary damages from Ferrari. Despite the over the top language of the legal proceedings, Ford is legitimately protecting its trademark against another company using the F150 name in the automotive space. Letting it go only weakens the company’s case in the event that a future, more credible threat emerges.
It’s easy to poke fun at the situation, but if you were responsible for managing a multi-billion doallar brand, you probably wouldn’t find it so funny!
Glad to see the American way in action. As a US citizen I am saddened.
Joe:
This story seems so ludicrous it made me think beyond the points that many have already made here about the similarities between a pick up truck and a singe seater f1 race car.
I think I am being a bit of a conspiracy theorist here, but when I read the story it made me think of another article I read a few days ago about the joint production by Fiat/Chrysler of a new Alfa badged SUV to be sold in the USA. Could this hole thing be Ford’s way of getting some leverage on Fiat to slow down their efforts to break into the US market with competing products?
Dan Dectis,
didn’t Ford nearly buy Ferrari, in the 70s?
and have a small share of FIAT, for a while?
I am probably totally wrong on this, but there was the Conglomerate boom (see Harold Geneen, who pretty much invented that) and Italy was a mess with roadside bombs, and little armor plated 500s. It was reading up on that, from which i half recall the connexion. I should have paid more attention.
Maybe this is all about jealousy. Your GT mention got me thinking along those lines.
– j
Joe,
your profound grasp of pronunciation has put a grin on my face for the rest of the day!
– j
Let’s face it it’s just about free PR for Ford. Actually it would be more understandable if it were the other way round; ie if Ferrari originally held the name and Ford were copying it.
@joesaward
RichT,
The word is “Vee-hickles”…
Of course it is. My apologies!
Time now, to take my tongue out of my cheek!
Made me laugh, Joe.
No case to answer.
No one could ever confuse a Ferrari and Ford.
To cybersquat you have to own a domain name the other company would want. Ford would not want http://www.ferrariF150.com.
What nonsense…. ‘famous name’ says Ford… ??
Lived whole life in US and I was not aware of the F150 name… they should consider themselves lucky that Ferrari happened to choose it.
Ford’s website uses the moniker “F-150” while Ferrari uses “F150.” Where is the encroachment? Maybe the U.S. Air Force should sue Bono for using the name “U2” as it is clearly a violation of the aircraft named U-2?
Wow. Only 3 comments of over 100 are with Ford. F1 sued anyone who used F1 in their name. Whether it was motor racing or not. F-150 is a well known and profitable brand. If they let Ferrari use it then everyone else would too. And they would have precedent. Sorry. But Ferrari are clearly in the wrong.
Or more to the point 3 who understand trademark law and that it’s not solely an Americanism.
Let’s take Charlie’s example, Bono can’t sue the US airforce because his trademark is specific to music. Ford however holds the F-150 mark for, among other things:
-automobiles and exterior insignia badges
– miniature models of vehicles, toy vehicles, and hobby kits for the construction of miniature vehicles
-metal key rings, metal key fobs,[ metal money clips,] non luminous non-mechanical metal signs
-clothing; namely, shirts, caps
You cannot tell me that Ferrari is going to name their vehicle to celebrate the Italian unification and not try and flog any and all of the above with an F-150 mark on it.
As for F-150 vs F150 this would I expect still be found to be infringement, I am hardly like to me allowed to use Burger-King or Mc’Donalds as the name of my restaurant because I threw in some punctuation marks.