(EDITED TO ADD: Since writing this post, information from commenters has persuaded me that I may have been wrong. I've written a follow-up post to set the record straight.)
A couple of weeks ago, in an 'Around The Blogs' compilation, I mentioned a post on Blunt Object, wherein the blog's author mentioned Ferrari's decision to call its 2011 Formula 1 car the Model F150. He observed:
"Somewhere in Michigan, a Ford marketing exec is giggling like a mother******".
Clearly, no-one in Ford's marketing department was listening - or, if they were, the lawyers overruled them! Pickuptrucks.com reports:
Ford filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a court for an injunction against Ferrari over the use of the F150 name for Ferrari's latest Formula 1 racecar, the automaker said.
"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," Ford said in a statement Wednesday. "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'."2011 Ferrari F150 Formula 1 race car
Indeed, Ford claims, "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," the automaker said in a statement this afternoon.2011 Ford F150 pickup truck
The Italian sports car maker chose the F150 name to pay tribute to this year's 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, but it's also the well-known and longtime name of Ford's half-ton pickup truck, the best-selling vehicle in Ford's U.S. lineup.
There's more at the link.
Ferrari caved in within 24 hours. On Thursday it issued a statement, which reads in full:
On the subject of the name of the new Ferrari Formula 1 car, the Maranello company wishes to point out that it has sent a letter of reply to Ford, underlining the fact that the F150 designation (used as the abbreviated version of the complete name, which is Ferrari F150th Italia) never has, nor ever will be used as the name of a commercially available product - indeed there will definitely not be a production run of single-seaters. In fact, it has always been the case in the history of Scuderia names, that they represent the nomenclature of a racing car project and are linked to a chronological order with a technical basis, or in exceptional cases, to special occasions. This year, the decision was taken to dedicate the car name to a particularly significant event, the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, an event of such great importance that the Italian government has declared, for this year only, a national holiday.
For these reasons, Ferrari believes that its own contender in the forthcoming F1 championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever, nor can it give the impression that there is a link to another brand of road-going vehicle. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford’s viewpoint on the matter.
Despite this and to further prove it is acting in good faith and that it operates in a completely correct manner, Ferrari has decided to ensure that in all areas of operation, the abbreviated version will be replaced at all times with the full version, Ferrari F150 th Italia.
I think Ford's legal advisers must have lost their collective minds - and the same goes for the top executives who approved their lawsuit! I can't believe anyone would confuse the two vehicles . . . I mean, just look at the pictures above! And can you imagine the free publicity Ford would have got, every time someone mentioned a 'Ferrari F150'? Yet they've thrown all that away!
I daren't use this story for one of my regular 'Doofus Of The Day' articles, because Ford's actions are so incredibly stupid that they go way beyond doofidity. In fact, they're so crazy that I have to wonder whether General Motors or Chrysler have infiltrated their agents into Ford's legal and marketing departments. This decision is likely to benefit them far more than it does Ford!
Henry Ford must be spinning in his grave . . . fast enough to rival a Ferrari crankshaft!
Peter
10 comments:
Under some circumstances if you don't defend a copyright, you lose it. I'm guessing that Ford doesn't really care if they lose this case, but they feel that the risk of losing the F-150 trademark is high enough that the cost of a halfhearted lawsuit is cheap in comparison.
Oh man... doofi of the YEAR for this one...
No, I believe Sevesteen is right. Ford had no choice in the matter if they wanted to be able to protect the F150 name from deliberate copying in the future. The press release is full of boilerplate language to support the lawsuit. (I would be willing to bet the delay between Ferrari's announcement & the legal filing was at least partly due to the legal department trying to find a way to AVOID this case, and still be able to pursue action against others in the future.)
Sorry, but protecting Ford's trademark in the F150 doesn't make sense, for two reasons.
1. The two vehicles are so different, and do such different jobs, that there's no possibility whatsoever of them being confused with one another.
2. Ford could always ask Ferrari to add a line to its publicity material, so that every press release contains a statement saying something like "The designation F150 is used by permission of Ford Motor Company". That acknowledges Ford's prior right to it, and also provides yet more valuable publicity to FMC.
I still say this could have been handled far better, and with far greater advantage to Ford. As it is, FMC has become the laughing-stock of the industry, and GM and Chrysler executives must be laughing their heads off whenever the subject comes up!
I't own blind, stupid arrogance has been pounding the US auto industry into the ground for nearly 40 years. Why stop now?
I'm with Sevesteen. My casual reading on the subject seems to indicate that trademark law is so dumb on this that large companies have little choice than to be hyper-reactive swine on the subject. I think (I'm not a lawyer, though) that the situation is that if Ferrari had come to Ford in advance the little "used with permission" line would have solved the problem, but since they didn't Ford has to stop the whole thing.
Different doesn't appear to matter--"General Motors was sued by Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta for trademark infringement over the naming of the Beretta. The suit was settled out-of-court in 1989; GM and Beretta exchanged symbolic gifts: a Beretta GTU coupe and a pair of Beretta shotguns. GM donated US$500,000 to a Beretta-sponsored charity which was also affiliated with the GM Cancer Research Foundation." (wikipedia)
Perhaps you're unaware of the corporate enmity between Ford and Ferrari, dating back to the early 60's, which led to the creation of the original GT-40.
Ford had tried to buy Ferrari, you see, and things were warming up, seeming to get underway, when Enzo yanked the rug out from under it all. This led to Ford building the GT-40 for the express purpose of humiliating Ferrari at the races.
Even leaving aside the trademark defence side of things, I can't say I'm surprised by this at all.
I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. Ford could not allow any vehicle to use their branding. More over I am very surprised Ferrari would even consider calling their race car F150.
My vote would give the Dufus award to Ferrari.
Gerry
Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I take your points about trademark protection. Because I'm not originally from the USA, I've been exposed to a less litigious, less 'paranoid' business culture (I've been a company director and senior manager, and hold an MBA equivalent, but my experience and qualifications are from South Africa). I'm therefore persuaded, both by your comments and by a bit of research I've been doing today, that Ford may have been less stupid than I thought in protecting their trademark.
I'll put up another post tonight, expressing that viewpoint and trying to balance the issue.
Thanks to everyone for your contributions.
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