The Ford Motor Company is
taking Ferrari to court over the use of the "F150", a
protected trademark, a name that now designates
Maranello's latest F1 single-seater and chosen to honour
the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.
Ferrari chose the name
F150 to adorn this year's grand prix single-seater, the
57th it has built, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of
Italian unification, which took place in Turin, the home
of the country's first parliament. The anniversary comes
up on March 17. The F150 was launched on January 28.
Ferrari's F150's logo is quite similar to Ford's "F-150"
in terms of the font used, with only the "-"
incorporated in the Ford designation and the colour
visually setting them apart at a quick glance.
The F-150 name has
been a trademark of Ford ever since it introduced the
pickup truck of the same name back in 1975; the F-150
today is one of Ford's best-selling vehicles and a name
synonymous with this vehicle in North America. Ford is
suing Ferrari for trademark infringement and
misappropriating the name and is seeking unspecified
damages as well as a ban on the F150 name being used on
any merchandise sold by the Italian sports car maker in
the United States.
Ford is also seeking
$100,000 in compensation for a "cybersquatting" offence
as Ferrari has registered the domain name
www.ferrarif150.com domain name, which the U.S. carmaker
claims violates the Anticybersquatting Consumer
Protection Act. That domain name currently hosts an
internet microsite dedicated to the new F1 single-seater.
A statement issued by
Ford in Detroit yesterday announced the legal action and
read: "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. 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'. Ford added that: "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."
Ford and Ferrari
already have a historical overlap as in 1963 the U.S.
carmaker came within a whisker of buying the Italian
company. In the early sixties Henry Ford II had wanted
the Ford name to be able to challenge to win at Le Mans
and reportedly Enzo Ferrari approached him about buying
the Italian sports car maker. Ford then spent much time
and money in the due diligence process before Enzo
backed out of the sale at a late stage reportedly
unhappy with the control he would retain over the racing
division, and also that Ferrari wouldn't be allowed to
compete at Indianapolis as Ford was already an engine
supplier there and didn't want the competition. Angered,
Henry Ford II directed his energies to finding a company
that could build a car to win at Le Mans and after
discussing proposals with Lotus, Cooper and Lola, the
latter was chosen. From that start Ford Advanced
Vehicles was born which spawned the GT40 which went onto
win Le Mans 24 Hours for no less than four years in a row (1966-69).
