Ford going after another LR based company

[chrisvonc]

Caught this link from the gang over at FreelanderLiving.com. Looks like Ford legal is hassling the folks at Bear Valley. http://bvlr.com/browse.php?page=fordlandrover

Interesting read. I havent yet read the full court document PDFs but the press release on their site just makes you site back and wonder about Ford sometimes.

[dmarchand]

It's an interesting study in what Ford has been doing for the last year or more. Going after some parts resellers and other with "Rover" in their naming. I think this happened to Nathan C (at least that was the rumor).

Funny too because BVLR is one of the few known best for unloading the fleet of rental rovers that Ford gives them. If they slap them around, who else is going to unload those rigs? No certified dealer will touch them. Well, in theory at least.

[rover4x4]

bastards

[chrisvonc]

Flippping through a copy of one LR magazine, I really took notice of just how many vendors use variations of Land Rover. Anyone in the UK hear of your vendors there getting hit with this treatment? What desides where it stops? Are the Land Rover magazines next? As it seems to be we are only seeing American vendors harrased, it smells of simply elimination of potential competition of LRs new plans to open a division solely to continue production of parts for the older truck market still out there as the rest of the company moves forward.

It's embarressing that Ford is actually paying salaries to pursue this.

[JohnnyK]

What idiots...

[c2sox]

Yup that's pretty sad!

[WCURoverD90]

Ford Motor Co. is a big group of bastards.....What they are doing to Bear Valley is really fucked up.....I guess you can always expect something like that from Ford.....I as well as most haven't gotten a chance to read the full documents but i intend to....

Jason

[Screehopper]

That is so lame.

Is Ford going to attack Land Rover clubs too? Most clubs have "Land Rover" in their club name. And what about independent Land Rover mechanics?

Sheeeeesh! Makes me hate Ford more and more.

[pangaea]

I agree, that it sucks. But if you read the legal documents, it appears as though LR and Ford got screwed by the LR dealership in Chatanooga and are essentially looking for a scapegoat. It sure seems like that's what started the whole thing.

As to the "confusion" with BV using the Land Rover name, I can understand Ford's POV, since those less well informed could think that it's a LR center, but if BV really moves the number of ex-fleet cars that they say, well, that's just dumb on the part of LR to bite the hand that feeds them.

nathan

[smenzel]

Much as we dispise this, it appears to be common practice with the larger auto manufacturers. They seem to feel a need to protect their trademarked name. BMW appears to take a more lax approach.

Back in college a friend of mine had a Volkswagon repair business called TVD, short for the original name of 'The Volkswagon Doctor'. The fine lawyers at VW had contacted him about the original name so he changed the business name to just the initials. :)

[wicks]

Oh the letters are from K&L (big, big firm). I happen to have call with a partner in their LA office tomorrow - I'll mention it and see if he cares to forward a comment internally. ;)

Wicks

[jkatka]

I heard that the oval landrover logo trademark was "given" to a LR club on the East Coast when LR pulled out of the North American Market back in the 70's. Has anyone heard that?


JK

[OCD90]

They did the same with classic Mustang folks...probably started 5-years back. They decided to "license" the name to people making reporduction Mustang parts. That way they ensure the quality and integrity of the parts (oh, and make a % on everything they sell). They squashed anyone even using ford part numbers in their literature--even if they clearly stated it was not a Ford product...even cross-referencing the number was prohibited.

I'm not a lawyer, but I do know that if you don't protect your trademark, you lose it...kleenex, rollerblade, xerox...are examples they always use

[Kev Baldwin]

Nothing new to us here in the UK. Land Rover went on a similar warpath over here around 10-years ago. Study the ads hard and you'll spot there are fewer companies than you think using the words Land Rover in their titles. Companies trading under a name such as 'John Smith's Land Rover Services' were forced to drop the 'Land Rover' tag overnight and simply become ' John Smith's'. John Craddock's is one good example. Using the green oval logo is another complete no-no!

If anyone is getting away with it in the UK, they're doing well. Frankly in the litigation gone mad world of the USA, it was only a matter of time before the boys in Detroit ran out of better things to do with their time and went after the independents.

[wicks]

This is just big firms making billable hours to swallow their retainers. Someday they'll choke on em.