Ford Sues Ferrari Over F150 Name

[Gearhead999s]

Updated: Ford Sues Ferrari Over F150 Name
Posted by Mike Levine | February 9, 2011


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'."

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.

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.

We've asked Ferrari for comment, but have not yet heard back.

[Gearhead999s]

Just so there is no confusion

[Jaypod]

I was surprised to see Ferrari use F150, figured it wasnt exclusive enough for them given the F-150. Surprised Ford is complaining, might give them so more advertising......

[Gearhead999s]

Originally Posted by Jaypod

I was surprised to see Ferrari use F150, figured it wasnt exclusive enough for them given the F-150. Surprised Ford is complaining, might give them so more advertising......

I would be more concerned about Ferrari building a POS racecar that maligns the f150 name. "Oh look The F150 blowed up once again"

[Jaypod]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

I would be more concerned about Ferrari building a POS racecar that maligns the f150 name. "Oh look The F150 blowed up once again"

I was thinking...

"Hey did you hear the F150 won the race in Monaco yesterday, beat a bunch of mercedes and stuff......another reason I love my truck....."

[tunawi7cheese]

Ferrari use F150

Ford use F-150

the difference is the "dash", no lawsuit.

[py0413]

well....if you guys saw that accident which a ford f150 rides on top of a brand new 458 in FL, you probably understand why ferrari does this. Simply - revenge! lol

[Definitive]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

Just so there is no confusion

ROMFFLMAO!!!!!!!

D

[mot]

Originally Posted by py0413

well....if you guys saw that accident which a ford f150 rides on top of a brand new 458 in FL, you probably understand why ferrari does this. Simply - revenge! lol

[Gearhead999s]

Ferrari has backed down on the F150 name.

Ferrari F150th Italia is new 2011 car name


Feb.10 (GMM) Ferrari has changed the name of its 2011 formula one car.
It emerged on Thursday that Ford is suing the famous Italian marque after Ferrari called this year’s single seater F150.
The name was a tribute to the 150th anniversay of Italian unification, but Ford owns the trademark to F-150 for its famous pickup truck model.
Subsequent to the reports of legal action, Ferrari has twice on Thursday already referred to its 2011 car as the “Ferrari F150th Italia”, as testing resumes at Jerez.
“Before the lunch break, Fernando Alonso completed just over two hundred kilometres at the wheel of the Ferrari F150th Italia,” said the team in one bulletin.
And in a separate official report, Ferrari said there had been “two million hits from 149 countries for the Ferrari F150th Italia on the Ferrari (web)site”.
Referring to the recent launch of the car, the team also reminded readers that “web surfers were able to follow the presentation of the Ferrari F150th Italia” live.

[Erhan]

I don't think anyone will confuse F150 formula 1 car with a F150 truck..

[Gearhead999s]

I think Ford should build a race car and call it the F150 just to FUCK with Ferrari...LOL Even paint it Red.

[sharo7390]

Agree with py0413 ...here's how ford made their point

[M3 vert]

Originally Posted by sharo7390

Agree with py0413 ...here's how ford made their point

Thats just wrong, those damn rednecks with there ford trucks

[ns2000x]

I think the lawsuit is ridiculous and petty. Only about 0.000001% of people even know that Formula one cars have chassis codes. And those people sure as shit aren't going to confuse Ferrari's F1 car with a ladder frame Ford truck.

[gbrett5]

http://www.ferrari.com/English/Formu...the_sense.aspx

The Horse Whisperer - The name changes but not the sense

It might seem like a Kafkaesque scenario, but the affair relating to the name of the car with which Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will tackle this year’s Formula 1 World Championship saw its final and decisive episode played out these past few days with the concomitant withdrawal by Ford of the summons. Therefore common sense has prevailed.

In order to avoid the slightest risk of anyone confusing a Formula 1 car with a pick-up truck, for their part, the men from Maranello have decided that the car will lose the F that precedes the number 150 and which stands for Ferrari, as it has done on numerous occasions when it’s come to giving a car a code name, be it for the race track or the road. It appears that this could have caused so much confusion in the minds of the consumer across the Pond that, at the same time as losing the F, the name will be completely Italianised, replacing the English “th” with the equivalent Italian symbol.

Therefore the name will now read as the Ferrari 150° Italia, which should make it clear even to the thickest of people that the name of the car is a tribute to the anniversary of the unification of our country. Let’s hope the matter is now definitely closed and that we can concentrate on other matters, namely ensuring that our car that already seems to be pretty good out of the box, becomes a real winner.