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FUll article, yes I typed it up.
Some of your Favorite Mustang parts companies are facing serious legal action, serious enough to possiblyput some of them out of business, and it's coming from the most unlikely of sources:Ford Motor Company.
Over the past few months, a number of major Mustang Parts companies have recieved a letter from Howard, Phillips, and Anderson, a Salt Lake City law office that represents Ford on trademark and anticybersquatting enforcement matters. Loaded with legalese, the four-page document boiled down to a couple of important demands:transfer to Ford any Internet domain name containing the word Mustang and, worse, discontinue using Mustang in the Company name. In other words, many of the companies that you and I purchase Mustang parts from are being told to change their names or face a Ford-powered lawsuit seeking $100k in damages.
The letter also demands that the companies turn over for destruction all signs, banners, business cards, stationary, and so on that use Mustang in the company name, along with a cashiers check for $5k in damages. One company was given less than 2 weeks to comply, and another has discontinued it's advertising, a potentially devastating move for a mil order company, until the situation is resolved.
Upon further research, it appears the matter will only be resolved when everyone_parts companies, Websites, even magazines_stops using the mustang name, primarily because Ford fears the usage might be construed as an affiliation with ford. A source at ford, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that ford has decided to "reclaim it's legacy" by protecting it's trademarks and logos. "the intent is to eliminate use of trademark names", including Mustang and Thunderbird, among others. apparently, Ford went after companies using Ford in their name first; now it's time to clean up Mustang.
Because so many companies use Mustang as part of their names, the enforcement is being rolled out gradually to prevent overwhelming the lawyers. according to a source, companies that were contacted first were either High-profile, or they were not participating in ford licensing agreements. He went on to state that every company with mustang in its name will eventually be contacted.
We also talked with Scott Ryther, a lawyer at Howard, Phillips, and Anderson, who confirmed that companies without a current trademark licensing agreement are likely to be contacted first. He declined to comment on how the trademark enforcement will proceed, but when asked if a gas station called Mustang Mart would fall into the funsights, he replied "If ford finds out about it, they'll eventually be contacted."
About 10 years ago, Ford started making noise about the use of the mustang name. As a result, some companies modified their name to include a descriptive word, such as cklassic. When asked if those companies would still be targeted, our source at ford said, "at the time, that was deemed acceptable, Ford has changed it's mind."
So now companies are faced with making a name change, and it won't be as easy as replacing mustang with pony or STANG. According to Ryther, Ford is protecting those trademarks too. His suggestion is for companies to change their name to something generic like "classic car parts", then add a tagline about specializing in mustangs. sounds confusing to me.
While some companies are breathing a sigh of relief because they decided early on not to use mustang in their name, others are staring at financial, if not total, devastation. Many of these companies have 25-30 years invested in their name, and any marketing guru wil tell you tht a name change can hurt company recognition for decades. Whether or not a company decides to fight ford in the courts or simply decides to comply with the demands, it's going to be expensive, and you cvan bet that the expense will be passed along to you and me in the form of higher prices for parts.
I understand that ford has every right to protect it's trademarks. But it bothers me thatthere is no distinction between legitimate companies, many of which =have been doing business with mustang in their name for decades, and companies that might be looking to decieve or defraud by using the word. In this case, ford is going after the very people who support ford and it's products. One of the reasons the mustang hobby remains strong is because parts are readily available for restoration, maintenance, and performance. I have to wonder how successfull the '05-'05 mustang would be without the strong mustang hobby that feeds off the parts supplied by manufacturers and vendors.
It's a great time to be involved in Mustangs. The new mustang is a whopping success, prices for vintage mustangs are strong, and restomodding has strengthened the hobby with most of the companies we have talked to reporting increased sales this year. But if Ford follows thru on it's path for mustang trademark enforcement, many of the people who manufacture and sel parts may be forced to find another line of work. and if they go away, then our entire hobby may be headed down the tubes.
I can only hope that ford comes to its senses and sends this whole mustang trademark thing down the tubes first.
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