From GMM
Ford is suing Ferrari after the famous Italian formula one team decided to call its 2011 car F150.
Ferrari had said the single seater is named in tribute of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. But F150 is a model of Ford's famous series of full-size pickup trucks.
Ford Motor Co. owns the trademark to F150 and is suing Ferrari in Detroit Federal Court.
The Ford lawsuit filed on Wednesday, claiming damage to the brand and unspecified damages, also refers to Ferrari's creation of the ferrarif150.com website.
Reports said Ferrari's F150 logo, which can be seen at the aforementioned website, is similar to the Ford F-150 logo.
$100,000 in damages are therefore being claimed pursuant to the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, relating to internet domains that confuse the public.
Ford said it is seeking to prevent Ferrari from using the trademark in the US.
"Ferrari has misappropriated the F-150 trademark ... in order to capitalise on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed," Ford said in its lawsuit.
"This is an important trademark for us and we've spent many years and lots of advertising resources on establishing this name and getting the trademark," Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari is quoted by the Detroit News.
"It's one we take very very seriously. It's one of our flagship vehicles."
UPDATE
Subsequent to the reports of legal action, Ferrari has twice on Thursday published amendments to earlier reports that referred to the F150.
"Before the lunch break, Fernando Alonso completed just over two hundred kilometres at the wheel of the Ferrari F150th Italia," said the team in one bulletin from last week's Valencia testing.
And in another amended report, Ferrari said there had been "two million hits from 149 countries for the Ferrari F150th Italia on the Ferrari (web)site".
Referring to the recent launch of the car, the team alerted readers that "web surfers were able to follow the presentation of the Ferrari F150th Italia" live.
Will that be enough to stop Ford from taking legal actions against Ferrari?
Ford is suing Ferrari after the famous Italian formula one team decided to call its 2011 car F150.
Ferrari had said the single seater is named in tribute of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. But F150 is a model of Ford's famous series of full-size pickup trucks.
Ford Motor Co. owns the trademark to F150 and is suing Ferrari in Detroit Federal Court.
The Ford lawsuit filed on Wednesday, claiming damage to the brand and unspecified damages, also refers to Ferrari's creation of the ferrarif150.com website.
Reports said Ferrari's F150 logo, which can be seen at the aforementioned website, is similar to the Ford F-150 logo.
$100,000 in damages are therefore being claimed pursuant to the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, relating to internet domains that confuse the public.
Ford said it is seeking to prevent Ferrari from using the trademark in the US.
"Ferrari has misappropriated the F-150 trademark ... in order to capitalise on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed," Ford said in its lawsuit.
"This is an important trademark for us and we've spent many years and lots of advertising resources on establishing this name and getting the trademark," Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari is quoted by the Detroit News.
"It's one we take very very seriously. It's one of our flagship vehicles."
UPDATE
Subsequent to the reports of legal action, Ferrari has twice on Thursday published amendments to earlier reports that referred to the F150.
"Before the lunch break, Fernando Alonso completed just over two hundred kilometres at the wheel of the Ferrari F150th Italia," said the team in one bulletin from last week's Valencia testing.
And in another amended report, Ferrari said there had been "two million hits from 149 countries for the Ferrari F150th Italia on the Ferrari (web)site".
Referring to the recent launch of the car, the team alerted readers that "web surfers were able to follow the presentation of the Ferrari F150th Italia" live.
Will that be enough to stop Ford from taking legal actions against Ferrari?
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| F150 logo, Ford versus Ferrari |