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GM To Resolve Suit Against Ford Over BlueCruise Name

In late July, General Motors and its autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise filed suit against Ford Motor Company over the use of the BlueCruise name for its hands-free highway driving assistant system. According to reports, the two companies have since filed a notice of settlement and are currently working on the terms of the agreement, with sources indicating that the use of the BlueCruise name is likely to continue.

In its initial response to the lawsuit, Ford issued a request to the USPTO, asking that it rescind the Cruise and Super Cruise trademarks that were previously awarded to GM.

“Drivers for decades have understood what cruise control is, every automaker offers it, and ‘cruise’ is common shorthand for the capability,” Ford spokesperson Mike Levine was quoted as saying previously.

In a statement to Automotive News, GM’s director of global product development for EVs and AVs, Darryll Harrison, clarified that “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.”

The keyword here seems to be equity, and it’s possible that GM would allow the Blue Oval to use the BlueCruise name should it receive some sort of compensation. Notably, Mr. Levine’s most recent statement to the Detroit Free Press suggests that the terms of the agreement will at least enable the BlueCruise name to continue, as he doubles-down on the announcement of the driving assistant tech’s availability on the refreshed 2022 Ford Expedition.

“In addition, we recently announced that BlueCruise will be available for the new 2022 Ford Expedition and it is already available for Mustang Mach-E and F-150,” Levine said.

Ford initially referred to its hands-free driving technology as ‘Active Drive Assist’ but later re-named it to BlueCruise, and it doesn’t appear that the automaker is keen on making a third name change. To that end, a U.S. district judge appeared to lean in Ford’s favor, stating that “…the words you chose to use as your own are used by other people all the time.”

As of now, it looks like the two auto giants will settle this conflict outside of the courtroom.

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Comments

  1. If Ford thought they had a leg to stand on, and I’m not agreeing with them or GM, but if they thought they did then no way they would be agreeing to a one time or revolving compensation to GM. So if they are paying up then clearly it didn’t look like it was going in their favor. But on the other hand their system is pretty new and has very little public exposure, they could just rebrand and walk away – call it BlueDrive and play it off/market it using the futuristic image of warp drive. The whole thing is a little funny.

    Reply
  2. I expected a settlement of some sort. Trade marking anything with “cruise” in the name was probably a bad idea. So was the lawsuit against “BlueCruise.” It’s doubt anyone would ever mix up GM’s system with Ford’s anyway.

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    1. It’s how trademarks work, they have to sue. If they don’t sue, they lose their rights.

      If they sue and win, their rights come out stronger. If they sue and settle confidentially, the question remains unresolved. If they sue and lose, they lose their rights.

      So they have to sue.

      Reply
  3. This all is simply a provocation from FORD. It is sad to see Ford using this strategy to gain some recognition, but the true is that Ford’s semi-autonomous system is not that great: you must have your hands on the steering almost all the time!

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    1. Ford’s argument is that the word “cruise” is used to reference “cruise control” and related features and has for years, and I am inclined to agree. It’s like trying to trademark the word “electric.”

      Reply
  4. “Cruise” is a generic term which van’t be copyrighted, methinks.

    If Ford uses BlueCruise, GM might trademark “Yellow Crise”?

    Reply

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