Ferrari sued for using Ford’s name for their 2011 Formula 1 car – Formula 1 news
Ferrari named their 2011 Formula 1 car F150 by saying that it is to celebrate 150 years of Italy but it seems that they have gone too far in celebration that they have stepped on Ford’s toes.
Ford has officially filed a petition in a US court in Detroit against Italian Company for using F150 name for their car.
The petition read, “Ferrari has misappropriated the F-150 trademark in naming its new racing vehicle the 'F150' in order to capitalize on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed in the F-150 trademark.”
Ferrari have also set up a website in the same name as well.
Although Ferrari have made their intentions clear by stating on the website on January 25, 2011 that they only wanted to pay tribute to Italy’s 150th unification anniversary, but it was a concern for Ford Company from
day one that this will defame their F-150 series truck in USA.
“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, it’s one [thing] we take very very seriously. It's one of our flagship vehicles,” Ford spokeswoman Anne
Marie Gattari said.
Ford is also demanding that Ferrari should hand over any profits that were earned from the website which is roughly $100,000 under the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of America. They also say that Ferrari should withdraw the name F150 from their
car prior to the 2011 season.
Ferrari are not new to controversies as in 2010 they were fined $100,000 when in German Grand Prix they gave Felipe Massa orders to slow down during the last laps of the race when he was to finish first in the standings. This was done to improve the points
of Fernando Alonso. Finally Alonso finished first and Massa second.
Ford says that people will confuse Ferrari’s F150 with one of their own F-150 truck series. This rivalry between the two companies is not new as they have been involved in many issues over past three decades.
This is the second off the track case between companies on ‘naming’ issues after the Lotus rights issue.
It will be interesting to see how Ferrari responds to this demand of Ford.
Tags: