Cruisin to Court
Legal battles and tech companies have become commonplace in financial news, whether it’s Google v. Oracle, Apple vs Epics Games, or Facebook vs. Congress, these heavy hitting tech giants can’t seem to stay out of court for more than a few months. Unlike tech companies, car companies are seen battling it out less often, however, today it appears that two of the biggest in the industry are going head-to-head: GM and Ford. GM, also known as General Motors Co, has filed a lawsuit against Ford Motor Co over a trademark related to hands-free driving technology. Ford has called their technology “BlueCruise” which GM felt was much too close to their “Cruise” self-driving vehicle unit has been operating since 2013.
GM has called the issue something that could cause confusion and that Ford was aware of what they were doing. GM said in the lawsuit: “Ford knew what it was doing,” and that “Ford’s decision to rebrand by using a core mark used by GM and Cruise will inevitably cause confusion”. Ford is not on the same page, calling the lawsuit “meritless and frivolous” on the grounds that the word “cruise” is an industry term that has been used for decades. Ford even tried to settle the issue with GM outside of court, yet the effort seems to have fallen short of success, with GM explaining: “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,”. What do you think about the lawsuit? And who’s side are you on?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
