BMW M is free!

[Zeiss]

M-battled BMW loses court battle to Nissan


The Federal Court of Appeal in Canada has ruled that Nissan is free to use the letter "M" when promoting its Infiniti M35 and M45 product range, in a two-year court case where BMW Canada has accused Nissan Canada Inc. of trademark infringement. Earlier this year BMW won an injuction that would prevent Nissan from using the "M" letter, but this was overturned on appeal on July 12.

When Infiniti originally unveiled the "M35" and "M45" models BMW expressed no objection. Only when Nissan Canada launched an advertising campaign announcing "the M is coming" did BMW executives raise some eyebrows and decided to take legal action.

BMW will now have to either petition the Supreme Court to hear the case or alternatively come to an agreement with Nissan, BMW spokesman Jochen Frey said on August 7.

© National Post 2007

[phoenixbmwlife]

There is only one reason Nissan is using the "M" in their product line up. Everyone knows the the letter "M" is a powerful letter. Thanks to BMW of course. They will appeal and hopefully BMW will come out better later.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by K3N R3D

There is only one reason Nissan is using the "M" in their product line up. Everyone knows the the letter "M" is a powerful letter. Thanks to BMW of course. They will appeal and hopefully BMW will come out better later.

I thought the ad said " A new M is comming" Either way I was blown away when i first heard this. It's a direct infringment on BMW's marketing and Division.

///M is the same as another division from another company. What if Niisan used AMG..?

[Zirenz2006]

F*** Nissan!!

[eml]

and a few years ago, bmw lost to nissan in the use of "Z." bmw had to stop selling all those merchandise with only the "Z" (they could still sell "Z1," "Z3" or "Z4" but could not sell those with only the letter "Z").

[Not Ur Avg 3]

gay... cmon every company has its own letter. we have M
benz had AMG
audi has RS i guess
but like back teh fuck off shit

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Garrett

I thought the ad said " A new M is comming" Either way I was blown away when i first heard this. It's a direct infringment on BMW's marketing and Division.

Right. The M is not a new product line for Infiniti. The original came out in 1990. BMW did not take issue until they started using that slogan. As I recall they had one the case in a lower court, but Infiniti appealed it and won the appeal.

///M is the same as another division from another company. What if Niisan used AMG..?

Well, BMW uses Z, which originally "belonged" to Nissan. Its likely that Nissan used that fact in their defense. But I do agree that the ad campaign in question and the slogan were taking things a bit far. I guess the courts didn't think so.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Not Ur Avg 3

gay... cmon every company has its own letter. we have M
benz had AMG
audi has RS i guess
but like back teh fuck off shit

[OBI_agent]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Right. The M is not a new product line for Infiniti. The original came out in 1990. BMW did not take issue until they started using that slogan. As I recall they had one the case in a lower court, but Infiniti appealed it and won the appeal.



Well, BMW uses Z, which originally "belonged" to Nissan. Its likely that Nissan used that fact in their defense. But I do agree that the ad campaign in question and the slogan were taking things a bit far. I guess the courts didn't think so.

+1.....good explanation