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Chrysler legal turns into school yard bully over use of Ram logo

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Old 02-21-10, 01:26 AM
  #16  
jackblack7
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Over the years Chrysler has probably spent hundreds of millions of dollars (or more) building their brands. If they don't defend their trademarks, they could lose the protection and anyone would be allowed to use them. Why would they risk that? Saying they suck is pretty short-sited. For all we know 10 years from now they'll be making some of the best cars in the world. Regardless, it would be pretty stupid to spend so much money on building a brand, only to let it be copied.

Frankly, I think the school would probably win if it was taken to court. But who knows. That's not the point. Put the blame where it belongs. Whoever designed the logo screwed up.
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Old 02-21-10, 04:15 AM
  #17  
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Chrysler just doesn't want the real truth to get out.

http://jalopnik.com/286046/dodge-ram...ed-by-a-uterus
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Old 02-21-10, 07:16 AM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by I8ABMR
About the same time Chrysler and Fiat executives were running through a marathon eight -hour look into the future with the world's automotive, Pentastar lawyers were working over the principal at Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida. You may be asking yourself what Chrysler lawyers would want with principal Michael Kotkin when, just six months earlier, The Pentastar needed billions of taxpayer dollars to exit bankruptcy. Good question, for sure, but the answer is pretty lame.

Moto Bullet reports that Chrysler's legal department was reportedly all up in Kotkin's grill because the school's logo was a near-perfect match for the Dodge Ram logo. Team Pentastar ordered the school to replace the company's favorite goat head as the school logo or risk having to drive a Sebring head into court. Chrysler lawyers even had several photos of the logo being used at the school in several different spots. The Seminole County School District decided that the logo wasn't worth an expensive legal battle, so the school, ranked in the top 1.4 percent nationally for academics, reportedly has until June 15 to remove it from the premises. But while avoiding court will likely save the district plenty of money, the school won't get out of this mess scot-free. Removing the horned-head from the school's gym floor alone will reportedly cost the school (read: local taxpayers) $15,000, or roughly the cost of a new science book for about 300 kids.

We don't want to pretend that we're experts on branding rights and corporate logos, but we just can't see what the harm is to Dodge if the brand and the school share the logo. After all, we're assuming the school isn't going to start making a competitive truck in wood shop. Principal Kotkin is still putting a positive spin on the situation, saying that Chrysler's actions have "galvanized my school," but unfortunately for Team Pentastar, the school's new battle cry sounds something like "I'll never buy a Chrysler as long as I live."

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/20/c...e-of-ram-logo/


Chrysler sucks. imho its one of the trashiest brand sold in the US, and now I think even less of them
the school should take this to more national press outlets and really embarass Chrysler.
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Old 02-21-10, 07:18 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by jackblack7
Over the years Chrysler has probably spent hundreds of millions of dollars (or more) building their brands. If they don't defend their trademarks, they could lose the protection and anyone would be allowed to use them. Why would they risk that? Saying they suck is pretty short-sited. For all we know 10 years from now they'll be making some of the best cars in the world. Regardless, it would be pretty stupid to spend so much money on building a brand, only to let it be copied.

Frankly, I think the school would probably win if it was taken to court. But who knows. That's not the point. Put the blame where it belongs. Whoever designed the logo screwed up.
Chrysler can come off looking good by agreeing to license the logo to the school, instead of looking the other way and risking loss of their rights.
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Old 02-21-10, 07:21 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by mmarshall
Bitkahuna and jackblack are both correct. If this were a Lexus matter, it would probably be handled more or less the same way. Like it or not, that's just the nature of today's litigious society.
The use should not be ignored, but the result doesn't have to be like it was. It could have easily been worked out amicably, without making the school shell out all that money in today's economy.
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Old 02-21-10, 07:51 AM
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Originally Posted by caddyowner
Chrysler just doesn't want the real truth to get out.

http://jalopnik.com/286046/dodge-ram...ed-by-a-uterus
Hahahaha!! omg
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Old 02-21-10, 09:00 AM
  #22  
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I see where Dodge is coming from but don't think the school's ram head is close enought to that of Dodge that there was really any ground for the threats.
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Old 02-21-10, 12:26 PM
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I agree that if this were Lexus' logo, there would be the same recourse. But would Lexus sue the High School for using an "L" in a circle if it weren't the same font? But in my eyes, this is not a matter of a logo being used. I can think of High School and College teams that copy pro uniforms and High Schools that copy College uniforms. Sometimes logos are of very similar styles.

Apparently you guys know more about intellectual property rights than I do, but this is a bit of a grey area in my eyes unless Chrysler has specifically reserved all frontal Ram's head images (which now that I think about, they probably did). I understand that it takes a lot of time and money to develop a brand--I've done that myself on a much smaller scale and I would do anything to protect it if I felt threatened.

But I don't see the threat here. But if you truly need to aggressively protect in order to keep your rights, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do :shrug. Then again, maybe Chrysler did ask nicely at first but was rebuffed by the school. And they did offer to license it, so they were fair. I also think that the school would have won in court, but it would have cost them much more than they could ever dream of spending and that's why 18ABMR called them schoolyard bullies.

Last edited by chrisyano; 02-21-10 at 12:32 PM.
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Old 02-21-10, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by I8ABMR
trade mark infringement or not CHRYSLER SUCKS. I can't believe they are bullying a high school. Why would it be risky if a school had a similar logo???
because if they don't enforce it against an 'innocent' high school, then they will lose it when someone more serious (e.g., another car brand) decides to use it. trademarks and patents are only useful if defended or traded.

and if you think chrysler is bad, you guys should look up what 'monster' has done over the years, that's monster CABLE (surge protectors, etc.) - they've sued HUNDREDS of people, including some guy in colorado i believe it was who had a small biz making kids toys i believe they were 'monster toys' or something, and monster cable tells him to sign their licensing deal or get sued. monster the job site for example PAYS monster cable for the use of the word 'monster'. do i like this? no.

now small companies do sometimes 'win'. ever been to http://nissan.com? not what you thought? some little computer company named nissan had the domain and co. name years ago and has fought nissan car company for YEARS over this and so far 'big nissan' hasn't won.

Last edited by bitkahuna; 02-21-10 at 12:47 PM.
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Old 02-21-10, 01:50 PM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by tex2670
Chrysler can come off looking good by agreeing to license the logo to the school, instead of looking the other way and risking loss of their rights.
If the school were to license the logo for market value, there's no way they could afford it. No doubt it would cost way more over the long run. If Chrysler were to cut them a deal, one could argue that they're not really protecting their trademark at all. Then what happens when the next school uses their trademark? Or a small business that's unrelated to cars. Do they have to cut them a deal too? But you cut that school a deal, why won't you deal with us? It's a real slippery slope. Chrysler is absolutely doing the right thing here.
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Old 02-21-10, 08:02 PM
  #26  
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Porsche is one of the better known companies for frequently going after businesses using it's name, but not aware of it ever having to defend its logo. Auto repair shops that specialize in repairs/maintenance of Porsches are usually the businesses on their radar. So you will notice these rapair shops have carefully chosen names that exclude the word "Porsche".

Although I completely understand what Chrysler is doing is typical and expected in todays legal environment, I still don't view it very highly.

At the rate Chrsler is going, selling the RAM logo might generate more profits that selling the RAM trucks at some point. And many of those lawyers will lose jobs post-merger anyway.

Last edited by IS-SV; 02-21-10 at 08:30 PM.
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Old 02-21-10, 08:08 PM
  #27  
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Chrysler/Jeep lost one against GM/Hummer a few years ago.

Chrysler sued GM over the Hummer grill in 2003, but the lawsuit was dismissed.
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Old 02-21-10, 08:12 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by IS-SV
Porsche is one of the better known companies for frequently going after businesses using it's name, but not aware of it ever having to defend its logo. Auto repair shops that specialize in repairs/maintenance of Porsches are usually the businesses on their radar. So you will notice these rapair shops have carefully chosen names that exclude the word "Porsche".
Porsche went after Crocs (the shoe maker) for their "Cayman" brand!

They forced PlanetPorsche.com and caymanclub.com to change their site address as well. If Lexus were that aggressive, we wouldn't be posting on "Club Lexus" anymore.
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Old 02-21-10, 08:29 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by caddyowner
Chrysler just doesn't want the real truth to get out.

http://jalopnik.com/286046/dodge-ram...ed-by-a-uterus
bwahahahahaa lmao. Thanks for the laugh
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Old 02-22-10, 06:39 AM
  #30  
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Probably a blessing in disguise. It can probably only hurt this school to be associated with the crappiest American auto manufacturer.

It's probably in the school's best interest to change their logo to something else anyway.

I seriously don't think the school's logo is that close to the Chrysler branded one. They're both heads of the same animal - the head on the schools logo has a different shape and is more detailed.

How many schools do you think use a horse logo and/or call their team The Mustangs? I'm thinking hundreds.
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