Ford suing classic car parts suppliers

Ford is suing all the cl***ic car parts suppliers who sell ford parts claiming that they are breaking copyright laws.This is a nationwide campaign to close cl***ic car suppliers.How is someone supposed to sell parts without listing the vehicles they fit?Go to www.ford.com and send an email to public relations letting them know how you feel.I just did.

 

They must've learned that trick from that old **** Shelby, who strong armed all the Cobra kit-car companies to contribute to his charity if they wanted to continue using the term "Cobra"

 

Seems like it's mostly Mustang related. But ******** nonetheless.


http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2006/06/EditorsCorner/index.php

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/06/02/ford-demands-companies-remove-trademarks-from-names/

http://www.mustangmonthly.com/thehistoryof/mump_0606_hoofbeats_ford_protecting_mustang_trademark/

 

It's all about the ****in' money

 

vw did the same thing a few years upset a lot of bug and bus guys

 

Land Rover and Rover/MG/Triumph did the same in the UK a few years back. It was more about making sure people aren't using their trademarks in their company names etc so you could no longer call yourselves "Midlands Land Rovers" as Land Rover is a trademark. It did anger a lot of companies that had been frankly the only support for a lot of these marques for many years and also cost them a lot of money as it ain't cheap to change your company name, stationary, logos, websites, building signs etc etc.

 

yea, it's about money, fords profits were down 33% this month compared to last month. go bill ford, go, no really, go.

 

Here's a good editorial on this very topic I just read today.

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2006/06/EditorsCorner/index.php

 

This is an old situation.
Chrysler has done this for years. They inforced their rights to Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, DeSoto, Mopar, Ram, Power Wagon, etc.
This affected shows (Chrysler Cl***ic, Chryslers @ Carlisle, Mopar Nationals), parts suppliers, makers of posters and other art, and magazines. (Mopar Muscle--my old mag; Mopar Action, Mopar Collectors Guide).
Chevrolet has done the same thing in the past as well. They just recently made a truck supplier change their name.
Part of it is, yeah, it's about the money. Part of it is about wanting to protect their name.

For musicians, artists and writers: if someone is using your music, drawings, pictures or words for their business to make money, or just downloading it, and profiting from your work--or stealing from you by not paying for your work and using it for their own enjoyment, how is it different than me starting a company called "Everything Ford" and not giving FoMoCo any money to use their name?
-Brad

 

I'm sure they don't give a squat about the aftermarket for older cars since they already made their money selling it off the showroom, so why should someone else make money on it?...granted their money was made decades ago...you'd think they'd be proud of people taking care of their company history and advertising their name everywhere...

 

they should be more worried about their build quality, and design. My wife and I both have driven Fords all our lives, after the 1999 ******, and 2001 Exploder, she drives a Camery and I drive a Chev Surburban.
Other people must feel that way also - GM is number 1 carmaker, and Toyota #2. It was not that long since Ford was Number 1

 

That's prettymuch how I see it too, they're tight for $$, they see a way to make some $$ and they've been building some pretty sorry cars lately. Of course in Texas their trucks are #1 , but I never wanted one of their trucks...

2¢

 

Unfortunately, GM is not long for the number one spot...they've given that away via their quality, or lack of, for the past years...it's now catching up with them. Ford sales are not that far behind....and it IS about corporate GREED...!!!

I still drive a Ford, altho my old cars are Chevys...and WILL NEVER own a foreign car...something about keeping America America...!!!!

R-

 

Except that most american cars aren't really "american" anymore....

 

If a hundred other companies started selling things with my products name (trademark) AND naming thier company with MY trademark you better believe I would sue them. Especially since most of the aftermarket companies are selling sub-oem quality parts.

If a company is naming itself "Mustang Unlimited" it is deserving to be sued. If I created the "Hamb parts house" I would deserve it just as much. It is good to see Ford has offered to kick thier teeth in.... If you don't protect your own stuff nobody will.

Hyfire

 

delete.

 

********. So what you're saying is that the entire aftermarket parts business should be sued out of business?

Whose side are you on?

 

As they should. The Ford name belongs to Ford.


-Jason

 

This power & money grab is nothing new.
It was only a few years ago that ALL the companies , not only automobile ,but aircraft companies like Boeing ,Beech, Piper etc. did the same thing to model product producers. They made them negotiate royalty deals to continue to make models --- not just of current products , like producing a model of a 2007 Corvette , but ANY model --a 50 --75 year old car or plane . They were very tough about it --- some companies knuckled under --others found a way around it. Go find a Revell B29 Bomber kit --- nowhere in it or on it is the word BOEING anymore --just B29 Bomber .

 

surely there are better $$ making suits out there, "Sacramento Vintage Ford" isn't stealing customers away from Ford, they're bringing them in! They use the same short term logic my boss does, it's all about the QUICK buck, forget a year or five down the road

I don't think aftermarket suppliers should not be able to name what parts they are selling. If they're not stealing profits from the company, then it isn't TM or copyright infirngement in my book, you have to SHOW MONETARY LOSSES as a result of the defendant's actions. This is to a certain point- if Ford is no longer producing parts for certain vehicles, then there is no losses, and thus, it's open to a company to manufacture parts and sell them to fit the vehicle. I suppose calling your part and designing it exactly as the original and p***ing it off as licenses or NOS or whatever is worng, that's a whole different ballgame. This $$$ grab is about names only, not repro products.

my mom drives an American car, built in America by Americans- a Toyota Corolla. My dad drives a foreign car, built in Mexico by underpaid non union laborers- a Chevrolet 1500 pickup THAT is why GM, Ford, and Chrysler are going broke, I know I'll NEVER purchase one of their products if they don't get their act together. I'll stick with my '29 A and '73 Chevy 4x4

 

Agree, GM keeps putting **** out there like the SSR, HHR, and wait til the new Camaro comes out. Saw it at Bobs Big Boy a couple weeks ago. Talk about Chevy not finding it's own *** with both hands....YIKES! What an abortion.

 

Thats funny. They have simply lost touch with people.


-Jason

 

Nothing good ever comes from being greedy.
Unfortunately, honest business suffer from this because corporation have the legal system working on their side.

The law is H.R. 683, the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2005,
How bad is the law?
"It will serve to eliminate the Lanham Act from 1946 as it currently stands to the new proposals set out in H.R. 863.
Here are the types of fair use allowed for trademarks under section 43 of the Lanham Act.
(A) Fair use of a famous mark by another person in comparative commercial advertising or promotion to identify the competing goods or services of the owner of the famous mark.
(B) Noncommercial use of a mark.
(C) All forms of news reporting and news commentary.

Under the new law, however, the "non-commercial use" exception has been rewritten.
(A) Fair use of a famous mark by another person in comparative commercial advertising or promotion to identify the competing goods or services of the owner of the famous mark.
(B) Fair use of a famous mark by another person, other than as a designation of source for the person's goods or services, including for purposes of identifying and parodying, criticizing, or commenting upon the famous mark owner or the goods or services of the famous mark owner.
(C) All forms of news reporting and news commentary.

 

"Ford. Bold Moves."

Ford probably has a strong case - legally - but this is utterly boneheaded from a customer point of view. FoMoCo ought to be sending the aftermarket guys checks for keeping alive the last shred of brand equity the corporation hasn't pissed away in the last 30 years.

If you want to see even more vicious "trademark protection," watch Harley Davidson's legal department.

 

Sounds like HY-Fire might be some kind of Lawyer type,who knows
maybe for Ford.

Actually HY-Fire ,that sounds kinda Moparish to me .

Maybe someone will sue him for that

 

Agreed. In fact I think that according to copyright law, if you don't actively protect your copyright, you lose it and your trademark becomes public domain.

You think Ford is tough? You should see how Ferrari does it! They use every means, legal and, ahem, otherwise to stop people from knocking off not just their name and logo, but even their car designs. They've "encouraged" the kit car makers replicating their designs to close their doors. Recently they won a court case in Italy which resulted in three replica vintage Maseratis (another Ferrari brand) built with many original parts, crushed with nothing salvaged.

You may say, big company, boo hoo, but the trademark IS theirs and they have a right to defend it. And at least they have a licensing program in place now, which they didn't when they first started going after the parts makers. So they have some control over what gets made.

 

Steve Ray, I think Ferrari is a different situation. Someone is building a fake Ferrari that looks just like the real thing and selling it for a profit with no kickbacks to Ferrari, and Ferrari prides itself on it's exclusivity. If someone was making exact replica 2006 Mustang bodies and selling them to the public, that's copyright enfringement.

Ford has the same rights, but way different situation. Someone is selling repop parts to fix a Model T or a 69 Mach 1, stuff that Ford no longer produces and has no intent to, yet Ford wants to sue a guy for using the name "Bob's Model T Ford parts" as his company name? Legally they can do that, but it's foolish for their company.

So the guys devoted to restoring old Fords and the guys with websites with names like IloveFords.com (don't know if that's real or not, just an example) are going to get sued for copyrights? That's a really terrible PR move. No one buys a new Ford because of the excellent quality or value (which isn't there) they buy a Ford because they're Ford guys and they want to stand behind the company, so the company ****s on them. Bold move, Ford.

 

How the hell is one supposed to describe a part he needs without mentioning the original manufacturer's name? I'm guessing you have no problem with having to buy Ford replacement parts from Ford dealers only. I'm also guessing that you will have no problem when the supply of parts for old Fords disappear because the demand isn't enough to entice Ford to produce them.

 

Does anyone else see the incredible irony here? Please tell me you do.

 

Where exactly is link for the P.R. emails?

Its a shame. What about those like Dennis Carpenter who sell "authentic Ford" parts made from old Ford dies and machines?