Ford suing classic car parts suppliers

Doesn't anyone remember Harley doing this a decade ago - Hog Hollow had to change their name to Fog Hollow, etc. They really cracked down on the aftermarket.

Ford can do it, but I don't think it's very smart.

As for buying American vs where the cars are made or where their components are made - I don't care for either - I only care where the corporate profits go, THAT'S why I buy American...so I won't buy a US-built Toyota because the profits go to Tokyo...

 

It might put a few struggling business out of business, if they can't cough up royalties, or can't justify the additional expense/hassle. But it probably won't be sudden death for all the related businesses combined. Ford, VW, GM, Harley-Davidson, and Chrysler have all enforced their trademarked names at least once before in the past, and what it resulted in was that a few businesses up and quit while the majority went through the licensing program, paid royalties, and passed on the costs to the end user. Might be a thorn in the side, but not the death of the aftermarket/repop industry I don't think.

IMHO, people ought to THINK a little before naming their new businesses! I mean, they don't HAVE to name it "Ford" or "Thunderbird" anything, they can choose something else. For instance, Dearborn Classics is not going to have to fight Ford to keep their company name. But I don't make that statement toward the actual reproduction products themselves, or the use of Ford's name in their parts catalogs-- those are just going to have to have some royalties paid out like it or not. Hopefully the agreed-upon amount will be reasonable and not put too many companies out. But again, this has already happened at least once before for a lot of marques. Ford would actually be running a leaky ship if they did not occasionally pursue their rights under the trademark laws. I am guessing Ford and other businesses went to the trouble to trademark/ patent/copyright everything they ever produced for a reason-- to earn money on their stuff. Can't really blame them for that.

 

Again, GM and Chrysler have also been doing this for years.

didn't a whole bunch of people on this board raise a huge stink about people in other states using the same car club name? When it gets right down to it, how is that different? Car clubs aren't out making money on their name (usually), but still people here took it to heart.

If I start a band, can I call it Guns & Roses Again, or Motley Crue Too? Both those original bands are no longer making music, so I wouldn't be competing with them.

Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler spent decades building their brand--building the NAME to mean something. They spent time and money giving value to the names FORD, CHEVROLET, OLDSMOBILE, PLYMOUTH, CHRYSLER, BUICK and others. Why should I be able to profit off of all the time and effort they put in to make those words valuable? They're big for a reason--they've put in the time and effort to be successful. Why should I get a free ride on their name? Because they're big and I'm little? Um...no. That isn't how capitalism works. If I want to make a profit selling things that are valuable because they have the words FORD, CHEVROLET, et al on them, it's fair and reasonable that I pay the people who made those words valuable.

-Brad

 

I would have sworn that Ford sold all the rights/copyrights for the MustangII parts design along with their remaining shelf parts stock to PROGRESSIVE AUTOMOTIVE in the early 1970's......Anyone else remember that time?

 

That's almost as priceless as the "I work for FORD, I drive a FORD" shit I see all over town.

Maybe if FORD actually gave a FUCK what they were producing, got their designers from somewhere other than a middle school "Intro to CAD" class, and put some QUALITY into their NEW cars, they wouldn't have to go bullying around the playground for lunch money.

I love the irony of the lot at the UAW hall across from Michigan Truck that says "NO FOREIGN VEHICLES ALLOWED ON THIS PROPERTY", but seeing Mexican built Focuses (Foci?) and Canadian built Crown Vic's.

Geez.

Jay

 

The buisness owner(s) could just change their personal names to Ford or "Fords". "Fords Model A parts".

I think "Mike's A-fordable" named it that for more than the apparent reason. There's always a way.

 

It's all about greed, and lawyers, two things that go hand in hand. There's a shitload of lawyers that have changed specialties from chasing ambulances to copyright infringement, and they're all riding high on the wave that the RIAA has created. The RIAA, The Recording Industry Association of America, has been suing and winning thousands of lawsuits against people almost completely uncontested. There is an incredible amount of money to be made in copyright suits, because the courts are so out of touch. There are companies that are trying to copyright colors that’s how extreme things are getting. I think we’re going to see even more of this crap in the future…

 

The profits go to the shareholders who live all over the world.

I agree that Ford would be better spending their time designing and producing better cars instead of paying lawyers to beat up on small businesses who use their name to sell stuff that Ford has no interest in producing.

 

First statement is absolutely true! And even though it might not seem like it after my previous statement, I do agree with Squablow's second statement above. But I suspect that perhaps the corporate lawyers might dig stuff up themselves in order to earn their own job security. Maybe?

 

You know, I read an article recently that kind of showed the flip side of this, in China they're manufacturing "Chery" cars now, I can't remember the specific model now but it's a complete knock off of a Chevrolet subcompact model. The article said that parts like the doors and fenders would actually intechange! But is Chevy suing 'Chery'? NO. Why? They want to tap into the potential BILLIONS of dollars worth of export sales to China, and are afraid to make waves withthe Chinese government.

The bottom line is the bottom line.

 

The Chery QQ is a near identical ripoff of the Chevy Smart in China, to the point where some parts will interchange. GM is indeed trying to do something about it, but communinst China has different laws on the subject, so GM's lawyers' usual lawsuit tactics don't really fly over there. Laws on the subject in China are really vague, GM held off until they had gained some sway in China before they said anything, didn't want to screw up the good thing they have going there (GM has something like 46% market share of all new cars in China, they're the best selling car company in China)

 

agreed!

they have forgotten their heritage.......at some point they became part of our culture........the people selling and buying OLD Fords parts do so for a love of the automobile. however, ford only sees (and understandably) cars that we buy, drive, throw away and buy another one......NEVER becoming part of our culture- at least not to the degree vintage tin brings....

real shame on their part......they really need to be selective in their confrontations......it could really hurt them...

 

Actually, GM is suing the Chinese company that make thses knock-off Chevies. And they won't be exporting anything to China. They will be building them IN China. Why pay UAW union wages and shipping to send a car to the other side of the globe when raw materials are available and the most expensive part of the mass production equation is incredibly cheap and plentiful in China? The most expensive part of the equation I refer to is LABOR and in China it's dirt cheap!!!!

I agree with Ford on this one. Trademarked property is an assestt of value and it needs to be protected. Once you forego protecting your property, you've lost the ability to control who uses it and to what ends.Think of it as a from of corporate identity theft. Someone using your name without your permission may not have your best interests in mind. They usually don't - they have their profits in mind, just as Ford and every other company has their's in mind.

Did you ever try to use a Disney copyright without permission? Magic Kingdom my ass - Mickey and his gang will legally fuck you up!!

 

there are some companies that are officially licenced ford reproduction parts companies. and than there are companies that just make parts.
if you work w/ modern cars you know this. i work in a body shop and deal with this daily. an aftermarket fender for a '98 ranger mite fit well. an aftermarket fender for a '02 taurus will need to be bent and tweaked a little.
these parts are inferior, but they're also 3/4 the cost of an OEM part.
ford loses money on these parts that are not bought from them, and in turn charge 3 or 4 times the amount for the stuff these other companies cannot make to make up the diffrence(like rad. supports, floorpans, rails, clips,brackets)

i dont think ford cares about knock off or aftermarket parts. they just dont want the name FORD to be used w/out some royalties.

ford is'nt stupid. have ya ever heard of an auto recycler(junk yard) called GREENLEAF? maybe 3 or 4 years ago ford started buying out used yards nationwide and called it greenleaf. brilliant! they can sell parts off cars that they already made a profit on once, and they also make money off used parts from GMs, MOPARs, hondas, toyotas, and other stuff.

 

Trademark is fine, but if I buy a warehouse of Ford NOS parts and I want to sell them, I can't call myself "Upstate NY Vintage Ford Parts" so I don't get 12,000 calls a day from guys looking for '57 Chevy hubcaps and Camaro cupholders? I think what Ford is missing is that using their trademark in the name of the company is also intended to help the end consumer to find the products they're in need of. Sort of like "Big Apple Music", "Colonial Laundromat" or "Bob's Septic Service" -

I can see it if you're making reproduction parts. Somewhere I bought a bunch of old hubcaps and some of them were old aftermarket replacements - I had one cap that read P///////// in the style of a '37 Plymouth cap, and there was a Dodge clone that was DOOOO if I remember right. So charging to use the name is nothing new. Although I have to wonder what Ford would have to say if guys started selling products with an oval logo that reads "Turd" in the script. I'd buy one to stick on my A's grille.



On the model RR deal - the car companies did this to the hobby companies already, you have to have paid them to build a model kit of a '57 Chevy or whatever even if the dies were made 40 years ago. The RRs do the same thing, they hold copyrights to other roads that they took over years ago and if you want to release a model of a Western Pacific engine you still have to pay (that one makes the least sense of all of them). UP went so far as to have some new engines painted in "heritage" paint schemes that look goofy as hell and nothing like what those old roads actually used. CSX does it too, in fact before CSX was CSX, Chessie engines had a circle-R trademark symbol next to all the logos. I don't believe, though, that the companies who actually build the locomotives and cars have come after the model makers wanting money to build a model of an engine last built in 1952. GM used to own EMD, one of the two main companies left building rail locomotives (I'd say in this country, but they moved all production to London Ontario). Maybe they realize that they're not going to lose too much business to a company building 1/87th size models of their engine, because you'd need about 10,000 of them to move a real boxcar.


I saw someone mention Guns & Roses as an example of bands no longer making music. Supposedly they have a new album coming out, Axl and whatever passes for the rest of the band. It's interesting though that guys who are in a band a long time, then go solo or on to form new bands, can bill themselves as "formerly of" so-and-so so that people remember the old band and might be more inclined to buy tickets to see the new one.


Federal Express once sued a coffee shop that called itself "Federal Expresso" and made them change their name even though no one had ever tried to ship a package there. I think FedEx even had to approve of the new name - so it doesn't even matter how small you are, if you use a trademark, the company lawyers come after you like a pack of coy dogs.

 

fuckers are trying to make up for loss of sales. If there tired of getting there asses kicked by the asian car companies they should build a better frigin car!!

 

I don't get it! The way it works is if you take a part, and you change it ever so slightly it becomes your manufactured part! Why would anyone be ballsey enough,(which in this case actually means stupid!), to put any kind of "FORD" monecure (Sp) on their parts, (and/or in their selling practice), when they could sell them as exact replacment parts, (Plus the extra hole that makes it their own), and not get hassled at all! I'v gone through this senerio with a previous company i was with, and it damn sure is legal to approch it this way!

 

Because there's no way you're going to know my part exists unless I mention in print or verbally that it will fit your Ford. As soon as I do this, I'm sued and put out of business. Bottom line is that if this BS runs it's natural course there won't be any aftermarket parts, period.

 

I had a friend of mine who was the top trademark attorney in the world and a former president of the American Bar Association explain to me how he set up the Ford aftermarket licensing program. Variations on the program are used by GM and Chrysler. According to my friend, the revenues generated from the licensing deals don't even come close to covering the expense of operating the programs!

Harley-Davidson came within a gnat's ass of lossing control of their logo because they ignored all of the knock-off stuff sold at swap meets. Budweiser has a team of people going after unathorized Bud stuff all over the world.

Want a real collectable? Try and find a FURD (in Ford script) hubcap from the 30's.

I've been sued by Mercedes Benz and Mack Trucks over logo/trademark issues and reached a satisfactory agreement in both cases. If Bruce Meyers had used the money he spent on attornies defending the Meyer's Manx design, on chopper guns instead, he'd be one wealthy dude.

That blue oval and Ford Script is over a 100 years old and certainly worth protecting by all legal means.

The Speed Equipment Manufaturers Association (SEMA) came to life after a guy by the name of Henry Blankfort (marketing director at Revell Models) called all of the big guns in the industry and set up a meeting. The subject of the meeting was the use of speed equipment logos on Revell (and later AMT) plastic model cars. The off shot of that meeting was the formation of SEMA.


Sorry to pop your bubble, but the aggressive protection of the Ford, GM, Chevy, MOPAR trade marks has more to do with protecting intellectual property than generating revenue on the backs of misunderstood hot rodders.

 

yes protecting your trademarks is good.......but some of the mustang vendors have paid and still paying to be offically licened dealers from ford......some have been doing so with same name for over 20 years then all of a sudden they want to say.....hey you can't use that name.....even though it has been known to them for years......even shelby is up to it again.....trying to make them stop selling shelby fiberglass for cars unless you have a shelby and provide the vin for it..........

 

If you think this will have much of a lasting impact on the hobby, take a look at the Harley Davidson culture/aftermarket. It is thriving. They found a way to sell their parts without getting HD's panties in a twist. So will the Ford, GM, et al.. parts sellers.

One possibility.....revert to the old part numbers criss cross system. My pn: FRD-7847-G465 crosses to and replaces a E7TE-15243-1A Ford OEM part. I'm not saying my part is a Ford part. I'm saying my part fits in place of a Ford part.

I'm quite sure Federal law prohibits Ford from stopping me from selling a replacement part. But I have to say it's a replacement part. If only Ford can make there parts, that's anti-compitition and that gets the Gov't riled up.

Look at the small repair shops all over the Nation. 20 years ago when EFI came on the scene everyone thought that the only place you would be able to get your Ford fixed was at a Ford dealer. Ford thought that too. We'll I seem to recall (and I could be fuzzy on this) that the Gov't said Ford (Gm, Chrysler, whoever) can not dictate to consumer's where they choose to have repairs completed when the repair is paid for by the consumer. that's why you can buy code scaners and such just about anyplace now. I'm pretty sure manufacture's are required to make this information available to companies to make and sell products that give consumers a choice. I'm sure they get paid for this information too, but it's has to be made available at a fair cost.

The aftermarket will find a way to survive and in the process the shady aftermarket will be reduced or be far more obvious in their dealings.

You can piss and moan about how it's gonna ruin the industry/hobby and how it's gonna hurt the company doing the sueing, or you can adapt and change. Pissin' & moanin' isn't gonna do much. Fight for a middle ground..that's an adaptation. Understand that parts will cost a little more. It's a fact and you can't really do anything about it. Just prepare yourself to accept it.

 

I think most of us have seen ads wherein the advertiser uses the Trademarks of various manufacturers and then at the bottom of the ad the advertiser credits the Trademarks to their respective owners.

Should the major TV networks pay the auto maunfactures when they mention Ford or Chevy in the news? After all, the networks are making a profit from ad sales.

Harley is very protective of it's name and has also gone to the streets to punish those who have infringed in the HD name. HD has licensed tons of products by others to get their due royalties. HD is unique in that it appears they might license the production of a pile of plastic dog shit if it had Harley stamped in it because Harley knows there is little that could ever damage their reputation and the loyalty of it's faithful customers. No other company in the world has the power of the HD name and following. It's truely a legend. Just because I wouldn't ride one doesn't mean you shouldn't.

 

It's big business, always has been, Harley does this shit every couple of years as well... At least Ford is going after the use of Ford, Mustang, etc. Harley went after Hog and Hawg, what a load of crap...

 

HD even tried to patent the sound of there engines....and failed.

From what I've been told, HD tried to make a local business change it's name a few years back and the business beat them and kept it's name. The Hog Barn. I guess they were able to prove they were using the name before HD ever made a claim of ownership.

 

Colors are not only being tried to be copyrighted --THEY ARE --- Try making PINK fiberglass insulation if you are not Owens-Corning ---or BLUE sweetener packets if you are not Equal Sweetener. Both have been tried & successfully sued for the attempt.

 

Oh Yeah , well all this has given me an idea --- I'm gonna COPYRIGHT the ALPHABET And THEN ...............

 

A decade ago Ford just wanted the word "Classic" added to names. Now they seem to have gone overboard. They might just lose. Toll House Cookies sued a company called Toll House Restaraunts. Both in the food business, but the cookie co. lost the case.

 

And Ford wonders why they are losing popularity. Something else besides Ford service sucks.