Sat, 2007-03-17 11:39
Business News
TORONTO (CP) -

The ruling by Federal Court Justice W. Andrew MacKay found that the use of the letter by Infiniti, the premium brand of Japanese carmaker Nissan, "in form similar to that of the plaintiffs' trademark M alone, and its use of M6 as a package for modifying one of its vehicles, cause confusion in Canada between the sources of the wares of the defendant and the wares of the plaintiffs."

BMW has been adding M badges to souped-up versions of its already high-performance cars since 1978 in Germany and 1987 in Canada, when the M6 arrived, followed by the M3, the M5 and other variants.

The German carmaker argued that these vehicles have come to be known, "particularly by auto journalists and car enthusiasts," as M cars which enhance the image and sales of the rest of its fleet.

Infiniti, meanwhile, registered M45 in 2004 and M35 in 2005 as trademarks for sedans in the middle of its range, and in some advertising has used the letter M alone. It also offered an M6 sport package for its lower-priced G35.

The judge found Nissan "liable, in damages to be determined . . . for the use of the letter M and the descriptor M6, as trademarks for automobiles, parts and accessories, which caused a likelihood of confusion between the sources of its wares and of BMW's."

Nissan was barred from directing public attention to its products in any way likely to cause confusion.

"The defendant is also ordered to deliver to the plaintiffs or to destroy under oath, all literature, invoices, packaging, signs, advertisements, promotional or marketing material, printed or otherwise recorded, in the possession, custody or control of the defendant which may be considered to offend the injunction now granted."

Submissions will be considered later on monetary damages and legal costs.

Another bunch of lawyers getting some fat salaries...

Honestly, is this a real problem ?
- I doubt if anyone has a problem distinguishing between a BMW and an Infinity!

Not all that surprising, given that in the mid '90s Audi won a similar battle against Volvo for the use of the labels "S4" and "S6". But it serves Renault well! :devil:

Infiniti did the same to Audi with "Q" on their new SUVs.

What about PONTIAC copying-BMW, Hyundai, Kia

BMW came to their lawyers (who won their case for them, incidentally), not the other way around. BMW felt, obviously legitimately because they won, that Infiniti was trying to take advantage of a market BMW has been working hard to create and perfect for 30+ years, because Infiniti hasn't been around long enough to create their own market (like Lexus is starting to do now with their 'F' cars.) Build your own Infiniti, and good for you BMW!

Sue them all! :devil: Then maybe they can use the money and subsidize us current owners a M5. :devil:

Yeah..it is actually a real problem. Brand identity takes years--decades even--to build and Infiniti was clearly using that long-term brand identity to sell their own cars. It is analogous to someone using your credit score to get credit for themselves, or of an author being plagiarized...it does matter. This kind of stuff is actually the basis of a consumer society..bravo to the courts! (BTW--I am NOT an attorney)

What does this means exactly? If they have any inventory on hand of M vehicles, are they going to rebadge those?

This thread talls all about who's the trend setter in the car business. :whistle:

Cheap copies are not worth buying.