http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/070317/b031704A.html

 

Those BMW lawyers are very attuned to anything reMotely close to any of their trademarks.

Oooops, guess I'm next.

 

Would be even better if they had to destroy of the Infiniti cars .

 

they are over sensitive over there or they have too much time
on their hands during the winter season while they can't sell their FR
cars or something.

atleast in the US when i hear "M" i think Infiniti (M45, M35) as advertised.
when i hear "M-Series", i think BMW as advertised. not even close.

im not familiar with the "M6 package" for G's but THAT does sound too
close. when you associate a single digit number with "M" then i think it's
a trademark issue.

so GM's next for their "G6" cause that's too close to the "G" or "G35" ?
i dont think so. quite different in the US, i suppose.

 

yah, or better yet, tear apart into pieces all antique cars due to emissions.

never mind.

 

I know that companies have to vigorously defend their trademarks to keep them from falling into "common use", but some of the cases do seem a little thin.

I remember when Porsche had to rename one of their models because Peugeot had laid claim to all three-digit model designations with a "0" as the middle digit.

And then Audi took one of the snowski manufacturers to court because the company had a model of skis called the "quattro", even though "quattro" is nothing more than "four" in Italian. I think the issue in that particular case was that both "Quattro" the car and "Quattro" the skis were considered transportation devices, and Audi was claiming the potential existed for confusion.

Edit - I guess the single letters are in high demand, what with there only being 26 of them and all. Infiniti sued Audi in 2005 for using the letter "Q":

http://forums.fourtitude.com/zerothread?id=1905366

 

you mean the 901 --> 911

 

Well, Mark had to change MCO's name (minicoopersonline) to NAM.....

 

there are only 10 digits and 26 letters. The way 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 item combinations of them have been used over time is all over the place. But now, companies are trademarking common phrases from the language in adds.

Matt

Waht made me laugh in that article was that BMW was claiming that the phrase "M cars", that they admit was distilled from common usage, not thier branding, was the marketing territory that they were laying claim to! What a joke! Like anyone would confuse a BMW M6 and a Infinity anything!

But now BMW is screwed! They're limited to one letter with one number for hot rods..... That leaves 260 car models they can do, not counting overlap with the G6, before they'll run out and have to "buy a vowel" from a competitor!

 

[quote=kenchan;1433302]they are over sensitive over there or they have too much time
on their hands during the winter season while they can't sell their FR
cars or something.

atleast in the US when i hear "M" i think Infiniti (M45, M35) as advertised.
when i hear "M-Series", i think BMW as advertised. not even close.

Well our laws are somewhat different than in the US. We have a hard time sueing a large restaurant chain because WE spilled hot coffee on our lap on the ride home in the car. Perhaps they could go a step further with that and sue the road maintenance of the city for the pot hole the car slipped into and then the car maker itself for it's inablity to equip the car with a better suspension. I could go on.

Contrary to popular belief, Canada is not the hotspot for igloos and dog sled races. Sort of like saying Southern California and Minnesota have the same climate.

I have yet to hear the M3 be referred to as the M series 3.

Don't forget there are cars you get in the US that never see the light of day in Canada and vice versa. With North American advertising it can get pretty confusing.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Will BMW go after Mercedes because of their M-Class SUVs?

What's next? M&Ms?

 

spunone66- don't get me wrong, i was just teasing about the
"canada" thing. i have nothing against canada or canadians.

heck, im in kitchener almost every month (radisson) and i eat
over there at the chopsticks just down the road.

 

oh no~~~ M&M's with peanuts is my favorite American confectionary.

 

! was not at all offended, just wanted to point it out. Some days, I wish we could sue people just for being stupid.

We are located about 5 minutes from the Radisson. My husband and I both have Mini's and if your going to be in the area pop off a PM and we can meet up for coffee.

Heather

 

cool, and thanks for the invite!

 

It was only a suit in Canada. They didn’t take on any real decision. Wait until they take it to a court in Japan and we’ll see if they really have what it takes.

I notice the suit wasn’t in the US as well.

I guess this means Manitoba and Moose Jaw are going to have to change their names.

 

no worries in Japan. "M" are called Fuga.

here's a Fuga tuned by Impul:

 

looks just like the Nissan Altima

 

well a good deal for those altima owners then.

 

To me, that's as much BS as Paris Hilton wanting to copyright "that's hot".

 

It's happened before.

Remember the Chevrolet Beretta? (I know it was a forgettable car....)

Beretta happens to be the name of the oldest company in the world and they are my favorite manufacturer of fine shotguns.

Beretta sued GM and won. Of course the Beretta family took the settlement (I think it was ~$50K) and donated it to charity in a ceremony where they presented the CEO of GM with a very high grade shotgun and the CEO of GM gave the Beretta family a new Chevy Beretta. It's a neat story and I read about it in a coffee table book on Berettas (not the GM kind)

Rawhyde

 

Lol, BMW can sue over a letter.

 

What, you don't have any "M"pathy for them ?

So, do you work for the car dealers in your sig? Just happened to catch my attention.

 

Can I buy a Vowel please....