We Speak Lawsuit: PA parts dealer sues Ford over new ad campaign slogan

[wickedstangs]

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/government-legal/" rel="tag">Government/Legal</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/marketing-advertising/" rel="tag">Marketing/Advertising</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/31/pennsylvania-parts-dealer-sues-ford-over-we-speak-car-campaign/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/ford-commercial-speak-cars.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><small><small><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Click above to watch the video <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/31/pennsylvania-parts-dealer-sues-ford-over-we-speak-car-campaign/">after the jump</a></span></small></small><br /></div>
<br />Ford's "We Speak Car" campaign was designed to extol the virtues of the 2010 Ford Fusion, but one parts dealer isn't happy about it. Frank's Auto Supply Inc. of Uniontown, PA, has apparently been using the very same slogan since 2003 and it even owns the domain name <a href="http://www.autosupermarket.com/">wespeakcar.com</a>. Frank's feels that Ford stole its catch phrase, so the parts store is suing Ford for unfair competition under the Federal Trademark Act. The Fusion commercials, which began airing on March 3, start with "We speak car," a phrase that was just Thursday trademarked by Frank's Auto Supply. The parts store claims that Ford has spent $60 to $80 million on the ads to date, a number that we assume is being thrown out to show that the Blue Oval's substantial ad budget is stealing the catch phrase from Franks'.<br /><br />In Ford's defense, if "We Speak Car" wasn't trademarked until after the ads aired, how was the Blue Oval supposed to know that some auto supply store in Pennsylvania was already using it? Additionally, we''re also not entirely sure that the Ford Fusion is direct competition to a parts store. In fact, as the Fusion gets up in years, owners of the midsize sedan may even go to Frank's for parts. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/31/pennsylvania-parts-dealer-sues-ford-over-we-speak-car-campaign/">Hit the jump</a> to view Ford's "We Speak Car" commercials.<br /><br />[Source: <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09089/959337-100.stm">Post-Gazette</a>]<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/02/we-speak-lawsuit-pa-parts-dealer-sues-ford-over-new-ad-campaign/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>We Speak Lawsuit: PA parts dealer sues Ford over new ad campaign slogan</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/02/we-speak-lawsuit-pa-parts-dealer-sues-ford-over-new-ad-campaign/">We Speak Lawsuit: PA parts dealer sues Ford over new ad campaign slogan</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09089/959337-100.stm>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/02/we-speak-lawsuit-pa-parts-dealer-sues-ford-over-new-ad-campaign/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/1504288/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/02/we-speak-lawsuit-pa-parts-dealer-sues-ford-over-new-ad-campaign/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>


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[wickedstangs]

man I always see magazine use wicked stangs I might want to do this too

 

[sdsubzero4]

Get Wicked Stangs trademarked! C'mon Emilio, what you waiting for? Any unauthorized uses we can get money for. There's the $$ for the race car and other functions. :D

 

[wickedstangs]

Wicked Stangs is copyrighted..

 

[VP_07SRT8]

oh snaps!

 

[Paul Huizenga]

Wicked Stangs is copyrighted..

Copyright, or trademark?

Obviously, there's a copyright on the contents of the website, but I don't think you can actually copyright a two-word phrase.

The difference, broadly speaking, is that a copyright is the inherent protection on a creative body of work, while a trademark protects the identity of a unique name. IANAL, of course. But I do know more than the average bear about intellectual property.

 

[DSGimportslayer]

Copyright, or trademark?

Obviously, there's a copyright on the contents of the website, but I don't think you can actually copyright a two-word phrase.

The difference, broadly speaking, is that a copyright is the inherent protection on a creative body of work, while a trademark protects the identity of a unique name. IANAL, of course. But I do know more than the average bear about intellectual property.

:lol:huhuuuuuuhuhuhuh he said I ANAL huhhuhuhhuhuuh uhuhuhuhuuuhhhuhuhuh