From Jeep and GM getting into it over the Hummer and its Jeep-like grille to Renault and Polestar going at it over the similarities of their logos, the the hottest trend in car company litigation seems to be filing lawsuits to prevent “consumer confusion.” That continued with a suit that GM filed against Ford. The suit is intended to compel Ford to stop referring to its driver assist system as BlueCruise, which GM says is too similar to GM’s Super Cruise. As The Verge reports, Ford wants the suit thrown out.
In the lawsuit filed Friday, GM said in that the companies had been involved in “protracted discussions” over the name but were unable to resolve the matter. “Ford knew exactly what it was doing,” GM alleges in its complaint, adding that if Ford “wanted to adopt a new, unique brand, it easily could have done so without using the word ‘Cruise.’”
Ford called the suit meritless and frivolous, shooting back with the fact that cruise has been in use for damn near forever.
Ford said in its motion that the term “cruise” has been been in “ubiquitous use” over the past 50 years to refer to driver-assist features. “Consumers understand “cruise” to refer to a feature in their vehicle that performs part of the driving task or assists them in driving, and they do not associate that term with any one company or brand,” Ford argued in its complaint.
GM isn’t backing down though, saying that it is “committed to vigorously defending our brands.”
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