Photo: Ford
Following GM’s lawsuit against Ford over the latter’s use of “Blue Cruise” for an automated driving system, the Blue Oval is now looking to retaliate by asking the U.S. Patent Office to rescind GM’s trademarks for the terms “Cruise” and “Super Cruise”. GM filed its lawsuit against Ford on July 24, accusing the latter of violating its trademarks.
The two carmakers are locked in an argument regarding whether “cruise” is just a generic term used to describe technology that allows a car to take over some of the driving duties from the human driver, as reported by Reuters.
GM currently uses “Super Cruise” for its semi-autonomous driving technology, whereas “Cruise” is the name of its robo-taxi unit in San Francisco. According to Ford, there is no legal merit for the lawsuit, which is why they decided to up the ante and attack GM’s trademarks for the word “cruise”.
“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 registration that should have never been registered in the first place,” said Ford. “Any number of companies use the word ‘cruise’ in connection with driver assist technology.”
Among the examples cited by Ford is “Predictive Cruise” by Mack Trucks, Hyundai’s “Smart Cruise Control” and “Autocruise”, which is used by automotive supplier ZF.
Meanwhile, GM would like to remind everyone that Super Cruise has been an established system in the U.S. ever since 2017 and that they will defend their brands vigorously if need be.
As far as we’re concerned, we’d be shocked if this legal battle goes anywhere. Ford’s attempt to wipe out GM’s already established trademarks is a long shot at best, and we also wouldn’t be surprised if Ford is allowed to continue using the term Blue Cruise.
GM currently uses “Super Cruise” for its semi-autonomous driving technology, whereas “Cruise” is the name of its robo-taxi unit in San Francisco. According to Ford, there is no legal merit for the lawsuit, which is why they decided to up the ante and attack GM’s trademarks for the word “cruise”.
“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 registration that should have never been registered in the first place,” said Ford. “Any number of companies use the word ‘cruise’ in connection with driver assist technology.”
Among the examples cited by Ford is “Predictive Cruise” by Mack Trucks, Hyundai’s “Smart Cruise Control” and “Autocruise”, which is used by automotive supplier ZF.
Meanwhile, GM would like to remind everyone that Super Cruise has been an established system in the U.S. ever since 2017 and that they will defend their brands vigorously if need be.
As far as we’re concerned, we’d be shocked if this legal battle goes anywhere. Ford’s attempt to wipe out GM’s already established trademarks is a long shot at best, and we also wouldn’t be surprised if Ford is allowed to continue using the term Blue Cruise.
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