Quote:
Originally Posted by elmariachi
What I am offering for discussion with respect to the lawsuit is manufacturers in this sport need to be sure they are 100% square before they start producing rather than after. Anytime you go into business and you use a design or property of another (Shelby, Ford or otherwise) you should expect that if you fail to acknowledge the creator (via a royalty or via consent) you have opened yourself up for litigation.
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Just put aside the emotion of this issue for a moment. The points that elmariachi makes are valid and interesting. What did the existing replica manufacturers do to make sure they where "square" with any trademark issues regarding these cars? Did they do anything or did they just decide to make a replica because it had been done before so there must not be any issue with it?
Please don't jump my Shlt. I am not taking sides with CS here. But, how many of us have taken are hard look at things from the other side here?
How much does the old guy have to do in the day to day operations of the companies with his name? Perhaps the management of those companies are doing whatever they can to gain competitive advantage. Lots of people here say "if only CS makes Cobra replicas then not many people will be able to afford to buy one" as an argument. The fact that there are a lot if people that may want and not be able to afford your product are not usually a very important aspect of a business plan. The issue you are concerned with is are there enough people that want your product that
can afford it. Is it realistic to think that once CS dies that all this will go away? Somehow I don't think so. Isn't there some Italian guy named Enzo that is still producing cars long after his death?
Why is it that profit is associated with greed. Who here knows the real financial situation of the companies producing the 4000 series cars? Didn't we see a few years ago the CS enterprises was not producing a profit? Profit is not a dirty word. It's a requirement for a business to remain in business.
Perhaps I'm wrong and someone on here has had a conversation with the guy where he said that he
personally wants to sue the replica companies to get more money.
I know, I know, I have a BDR blah blah blah. I've had 2 FFR's too, Blah blah blah. That doesn't mean crap. I had to assume that the manufacturers of the cars I purchased had done their due diligence on any trademark issue. Didn't we all?
I'm sure the reason FFR is the first target is they are the company with the most resources. If CS wins against them, all the other replica manufacturers will give in pretty quickly.
Discuss...