Ford Seeks to Rescind General Motors Cruise Trademarks
Ford (F) – Get Report is asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to rescind General Motors’ (GM) – Get Report trademarks for its Cruise and Super Cruise products.
The Dearborn, Mich., automaker late Friday said that GM’s Cruise and Super Cruise trademarks should never been registered in the first place, according to a report from Reuters. Ford said any number of companies use the word “cruise” in connection with driver assisted technology.
Ford cited Mack Trucks’ Predictive Cruise, Hyundai’s Smart Cruise Control and auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s Autocruise as examples of the word “cruise” in trademarks.
Ford’s request to rescind GM’s Cruise and Super Cruise trademarks are part of its answer to the Detroit automaker’s lawsuit filed on July 23 alleging that Ford’s use of BlueCruise for its automated driving system is an infringement on its Cruise registered trademark.
In a Friday statement, GM said that it remains committed to “vigorously defending” its brands and protecting the equity that its products and technology have earned in the market over several years, the report said.
GM filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking an injunction enjoining Ford from further use of the name BlueCruise, as well as actual and punitive damages, funds for future advertisements, disgorgement of any wrongfully obtained profits and attorneys fees.
Ford on April 14 announced that it “will begin offering its new BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system to customers” later this year, the lawsuit said.
GM asserted in the lawsuit that Ford does not have its permission or consent to use the BlueCruise name.
GM, which acquired San Francisco automated vehicle company Cruise in 2016, according to court papers, obtained a federal registered trademark for Cruise in March 2020 and owns several other related trademarks including Super Cruise, Ultra Cruise, Dynacruise and Hypercruise.
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