Scoop : Ford suing Ferrari over F150 denomination
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Well, Ford are showing their corporate muscle and suing Ferrari over the F150 name… Sadly. Mind, it’ll give Maranello something else to complain about, and the Pony Fiddler or whatever his name is something to shout about…. Should be fun to watch in the media!! :)
http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/02/09/ford-sues-ferrari-over-use-of-f150-name/
I think both in light of the reason why it’s called the F150 and the fact that the vehicles and ambitions of both companies are quite different I can’t see this going far. Can’t help but think they will shoot themselves in the foot once this news spreads around Europe. Still, bad publicity…
oh and I have to agree with AndrewTanner – I can’t really see the point in this lawsuit. Unless there is something that i’m missing.
Weill, one Goliath suing another… Money to be made, money to be taken… Those lawyers have to earn their money
Can’t they just settle this the old fashioned way? First one to complete 350-odd laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe get the right to use the name!
Ford do have a point- if the name is a registered trademark, so Ferrari aren’t allowed to use it. But it’s all a bit silly really- I mean, who’s going to confuse some massive American pickup truck with an Italian Formula One car? Technically, Ferrari is in the wrong, but Ford are being quite pathetic- especially when you consider that the Ferrari F150 will only actually exist for 12 months…
As for the domain name, ferrarif150.com, that’s totally different. Ford claim that it’s cyber-squatting, but it really isn’t. If Ferrari owned fordf150.com, THAT would be cyber-squatting.
So if you’re listing Ford, just grow the **** up and stop being so stupid.
Exactly VettelS. Certainly not cybersquatting. ‘F150’ could mean a million things under a million different contexts. Just because both vehicles have 4 wheels does not make them anywhere near comparable.
In my local town, one of the major bus services is called ‘The Shuttle’. NASA haven’t shut them down…YET!
I disagree with the illegality of cybersquatting as it is, but to brand something “cybersquatting” when it simply isn’t, is even worse.
But I’d be surprised if it goes very far. Ford will make a noise about it and stamp their feet, but I can’t see Ferrari backing down. Ford are in the right, technically, but it’s marginal. I don’t usually support Ferrari on…anything really…but so far as this is concerned, they have my backing- not that that means diddly squat.
It’s not just about how they appear on paper- it’s how to say at loud.
You’ve heard of the Peugeot 1007? When it was released, the people who own the James Bond rights kicked up a fuss because most people would instinctively pronounce it “one double-oh-seven”- because it’s so recognisable. In the end, Peugeot had to market it as the “ten-oh-seven”.
It’s the same thing with the F150. People don’t pronounce it the “Ford F-dash-one-fifty”, do they?
I wander if Ford are reacting to this picture? I would love it if was on some execs morning email digest and he went nuts :)
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