Ford has asked the United States Patent and Trademark Office to rescind the trademarks given to General Motors for its Super Cruise hands-free driving system and Cruise AV subsidiary.
GM sued Ford last month over the use of the Ford BlueCruise name for its new hands-free driver-assist technology, claiming the name is an attempt to capitalize on the brand recognition of its own hands-free driving technology. GM also purchased a majority stake in San Francisco-based self-driving car company Cruise (formerly called Cruise Automation) back in 2016 and claims the BlueCruise name is attempting to capitalize on past positive press and publicity surrounding the Cruise brand.
In response to the lawsuit, Ford has requested the USPTO rescind the Cruise and Super Cruise trademarks that were previously awarded to GM.
“To defend itself, Ford has no choice but to ask the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to rescind both of GM’s ‘Cruise’ and ‘Super Cruise’ trademark registrations that should have never been registered in the first place, ensuring that it and the industry as a whole can freely use the word ‘cruise’ to safely describe their driver assist technologies,” the automaker said in a statement, as quoted by Automotive News.
The crux of Ford’s argument is that the term ‘cruise’ has been a catch-all term for driver assist systems since cruise control gained mass-market popularity, making BlueCruise a variation of this term rather than an attempt to capitalize on the Super Cruise brand.
“Drivers for decades have understood what cruise control is, every automaker offers it, and “cruise” is common shorthand for the capability,” Ford spokesman Mike Levine said previously.
In a statement sent to AN this week, Darryll Harrison, GM’s director of global product development for EVs and AVs, pointed out that Super Cruise was first announced in 2012, while Cruise has existed since 2013 and was originally launched as an entirely separate entity from GM.
“GM remains committed to vigorously defending our brands and protecting the equity our products and technology have earned over several years in the market and that won’t change,” he added.
Ford initially referred to its hands-free driving technology as ‘Active Drive Assist’ but later re-named it to BlueCruise. The BlueCruise system is set to launch this year through an over-the-air-update on 2021 Ford F-150 or Mustang Mach-E models already equipped with the Ford Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0 Prep Package, though it’s not clear if the lawsuit will delay the rollout.
We’ll provide an update on GM’s lawsuit against Ford as it progresses through the courts in the coming months.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM legal news and around-the-clock General Motors news coverage.
Comments
Well, I guess Ford knows they cannot win in court agains the lawsuit, so now they will challenge the trademark… Good Luck on that!
It’s like Ford forgot to do a Tradematk search before they finalized the name of Blue Cruise.
And so many thought GM was out of line when they sued Ford for Trademark infringement
Ford knew what they were doing, they wanted to piggy back on the Super Cruise reputation, they just did not think Gm would strike back, they took a calculated risk, and will lose.
100% GM fan Chevy lover from hell the half ton custom Chevy fender slit s they’re the same slits that Ford copied and put on the mustang GT500 or GT350 a couple years ago and then I don’t know what it is about the new super duty but it seems to look somewhat similar to the GMC grill on the HD or even the Chevy grill I don’t know it just it’s almost like they are needing some help but I can’t say this about Ford they still got that automatic backup thing when you back your boat up with push of a button I don’t think GM has that I don’t think they’ll have it for a long time
Government motors should not be allowed to own or trademark anything since they paid back there loan with more tax payer money.
Just ask Elisha Grey on how this tactic works out.
Ford can go F itself. Pun intended.
Hehehe!
Ford is to busy laughing at the Silverado being in 3rd place and the plastic camaro getting slaughtered in sales each quarter
Ford and GM need to stop fighting each other and work together to remain viable in the auto industry. After all they are the only two American car companies left. Would be a shame to become extinct in your home Country.
Tesla?
What does the phrase “BlueCruise” sound like to you?
A) Navy Jargon meaning voyage inside the Artic or Antarctic circle
B) Street slang meaning being taken away in a police vehicle.
C) Carnival’s annual cruise targeting gay men.
D) Sex with an old lady
E) Ford’s self driving tech.
F) An animated blue dog waiting for mail.
Ford will probably change the name to Active Blue Cruise Control and everyone will accept it. I wish American lawsuits weren’t so frivolous.
In the phrase “Cruise has existed since 2013 and was originally launched as an entirely separate entity from GM”. The word Cruise or even Cruise Control has been around a lot longer then 2013. As a kid in Jr High and High school in the 60’s and 70’s. I worked part time for a company that was installing Cruise Control in new cars before any car manufacture ever thought about putting it in there vehicles.
A person would buy a new vehicle and bring it to the company I worked for to have Cruise Control installed as a after market option. I agree that GM and Ford should stop fighting and work together to build better quality and safer and more affordable vehicles.