[ad_1]
A dispute between General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. over the name of their hands-free driving offerings has turned into an unusual legal row between the firm’s rivals.
Last month, GM sued Ford over the name of Ford’s assisted driving system, BlueCruise, which is expected to be released later this year. GM said the name is “puzzlingly similar” to GM’s own system, Super Cruise, as well as that of its San Francisco-based driverless car division, Cruise. In the lawsuit, GM called its competitor’s name choice a “brazen attempt to negotiate their goodwill.”
Ford filed a lawsuit to retaliate on Friday night. The Dearborn, Mich.-Based automaker said it chose the BlueCruise name with a nod to the term cruise control, a generic driving feature that has been offered by automakers for decades. Ford has asked the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to dismiss GM’s lawsuit.
“Consumers understand ‘cruise’ to refer to a feature of their vehicle that performs part of the driving task or helps them drive,” he said. “They don’t associate this term with any company or brand.”
Ford has also applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office to revoke GM’s trademark Super Cruise. In a statement, Ford cited several other uses of the word “cruise” in feature descriptions marketed by other automakers, including “Smart Cruise Control” from Hyundai Motor Co. and “Predictive Cruise” from Mack Trucks Inc.
Source link
