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GM sues Ford for "BlueCruise" name


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GM, Cruise sue Ford to block use of 'BlueCruise' name for hands-free driving | Reuters

 

In a statement released shortly after midnight Detroit time, GM said Ford's use of the BlueCruise name infringed on GM's Super Cruise trademark, as well as Cruise's trademark.

"While GM had hoped to resolve the trademark infringement matter with Ford amicably, we were left with no choice but to vigorously defend our brands and protect the equity our products and technology have earned over several years in the market," GM said in its statement.

In the lawsuit, filed on Friday, GM said the automakers had held "protracted discussions" over the matter but failed to resolve the dispute.

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This is so dumb. Super cruise sounds better than blue cruise anyway. Super cruise indicates it is superior to standard cruise. Blue cruise sounds like an old Person Caribbean cruise leaving Fort Lauderdale. Why is this even an issue. In Ford’s defense, like they said, everyone calls it cruise control. If Ford called it superior Cruise then I could understand. 

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43 minutes ago, twintornados said:

I think Ford should counter-sue for GM's use of the word "Super"...after all, Ford calls a line of their trucks Super Duty and then there is Super Crew, Super Cab and so forth and so on....

Phonetically speaking, SuperCruise is a lot closer to SuperCrew than BlueCruise.

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2 hours ago, twintornados said:

I think Ford should counter-sue for GM's use of the word "Super"...after all, Ford calls a line of their trucks Super Duty and then there is Super Crew, Super Cab and so forth and so on....

 

Isn't a frivolous lawsuit illegal? 

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4 hours ago, FordBuyer said:

 

Isn't a frivolous lawsuit illegal? 

No but if a lawyer deliberately lies to a judge and suggests something that he knows is false,

well then there are serious consequences for that…

 

Claiming Blue Cruise will affect Super Cruise is a stretch, especially when one of the words,

“cruise” has been used by many manufacturers for decades. It comes down to the difference 

between Super and Blue……no judge worth his salt is going to entertain this unless on the take…

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1 hour ago, akirby said:

Frivolous lawsuits aren’t illegal but you can sue them for real and punitive damages.

 

If a plaintiff brings a lawsuit to court that is deemed frivolous, then the judge can force the plaintiff to pay all the defendants court costs including attorney fees. And plaintiff attorneys run the risk of losing their law license. 

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3 hours ago, FordBuyer said:

 

If a plaintiff brings a lawsuit to court that is deemed frivolous, then the judge can force the plaintiff to pay all the defendants court costs including attorney fees. And plaintiff attorneys run the risk of losing their law license. 

Yes but it’s exceedingly difficult to prove it has zero merit and was filed with the sole intent waste the defendants time and money. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update to this:

 

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/08/14/ford-blue-cruise-counterattack/

 

Quote

 Ford said late on Friday it will ask the U.S. Patent Office to rescind trademarks obtained by rival General Motors for the terms "Cruise" and "Super Cruise," escalating a brawl GM began by suing Ford over its use of "Blue Cruise" for an automated driving system.

The legal fight between the two Detroit automakers turns on whether "cruise" is a generic term for technology that allows the car to take over some share of driving tasks from a human motorist.

 

The clash underscores the intensity of competition among established automakers to be seen as leaders in automated driving technology, competitive with Silicon Valley rivals Tesla, Alphabet's Waymo unit and others.

GM filed a federal suit against Ford on July 24, accusing Ford of violating GM trademarks by using the name "Blue Cruise" for a system that enables hands-free driving.

GM had previously trademarked "Super Cruise" for its hands-free, partially automated driving technology. It also has trademarked "Cruise," the name of its robo-taxi unit in San Francisco.

Ford reiterated on Friday its position that GM's suit is frivolous. The effort to nullify GM's trademarks for the use of the word "cruise" takes the fight to a new level.

"To defend itself, Ford has no choice but to ask the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to rescind both of GM’s “Cruise” and “Super Cruise” trademark registrations that should have never been registered in the first place," Ford said. "Any number of companies use the word 'cruise' in connection with driver assist technology."

Among the examples Ford cited: "Predictive Cruise," marketed by Mack Trucks; "Smart Cruise Control" marketed by Hyundai Motor, and Autocruise, used by auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

GM said Friday that Super Cruise "has had a well established commercial presence since 2017," and added in a statement that the company "remains committed to vigorously defending our brands and protecting the equity our products and technology have earned over several years in the market and that won’t change."

 

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On 7/26/2021 at 4:47 AM, blazerdude20 said:

Yes but it’s exceedingly difficult to prove it has zero merit and was filed with the sole intent waste the defendants time and money. 

You can’t trade mark words that have been in common automotive use for the past sixty years and doing so runs the risk of being laughed out of court.

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18 hours ago, FordBuyer said:

It's sad how much time and money the traditional Big 3 spend fighting each other instead of focusing on the Asian auto companies as the formidable threat they are. 

 

Even worse, the time and effort wasted in this legal battle is a distraction for developing and deploying ADAS and autonomous vehicle technologies. Both GM and Ford have committed to the automotive industry's overall goal of 100% autonomous vehicles. Hopefully, the 2 companies work things out quickly and refocus their efforts toward achieving that goal before their competitors in Asia and Europe.

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On 7/24/2021 at 1:15 PM, twintornados said:

I think Ford should counter-sue for GM's use of the word "Super"...after all, Ford calls a line of their trucks Super Duty and then there is Super Crew, Super Cab and so forth and so on....

Don't forget Cruise-O-Matic®. Come to think of it, That's actually a more relevant moniker for this technology, IMO.

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10 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

Even worse, the time and effort wasted in this legal battle is a distraction for developing and deploying ADAS and autonomous vehicle technologies. Both GM and Ford have committed to the automotive industry's overall goal of 100% autonomous vehicles. Hopefully, the 2 companies work things out quickly and refocus their efforts toward achieving that goal before their competitors in Asia and Europe.

 

You really think the legal/naming department is the same group that's working on ADAS/autonomous systems?

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