Ferrari corporate forcing Rob to shut down F-chat...

No, Gustan can take care of himself - and so can you. You don't have to seach the words "ferrari chat" in google to get to this site. I found it 7 years ago by typing in "ferrari" - I dont disagree that alot of members come here by word of mouth, that's probably right. But I'd bet Ferrari would contact Google if they pursued this, to check searchwords and hits. Why do you think I am aggressive? All the others users are also trying to find out which ways Ferrari could and could not have a way here.

 

Noo, those days are long gone.. Still pretty mad (by principle) for getting banned for nothing thou..

 

To all who've told me I'm wrong. I may be.

However, whenever you 1) defend against a suit by a plaintiff with MUCH larger resources, and 2) go to arbitration OR trial, you take your chances.

All I am saying is that I've been around long enough to know even black letter law doesn't necessarily guarantee a victory.

To reiterate, though, I am confident that this site won't be going anywhere in the long term. There are numerous ways to accommodate a plaintiff that allow for continued operations.

CW

 

Intellectual property rights and the enforcement of them are paramount to any brand image and company. The rights of the name and trademark owner are valuable assets which carry broad authority internationally.

Litigation on the part of the owner as well as the party who infringes can be extremely costly. I happen to know this from first hand experience as I was on the owner side and prevailed in a case that seem simple on the surface but ended up taking on a life of its own and the costs were staggering.

I own a mark called AeroPlan. At the time, my company was engaged in the sale, finance, charter of aircraft and I operated a number of FBO's here in the US. I registered my mark both here in the US and internationally. One day I received a letter out of the blue from Air Canada telling me to cease and desist from using the AeroPlan name as they operate a frequent flyer program of the same name and had done so for many years prior to my obtaining the trademark. Prior to sending the letter, Air Canada made an attempt to trademark the AeroPlan name here in the US as well as internationally and their application was rejected due to my mark. Litigation ensued (I sued them in enforcement of my trade and mark) at a combined cost for both Air Canada and myself of well in excess of $1.4 million dollars of costs and attorney's fees over a 17 month period. At the end of the day Air Canada with over 6 million frequent flyer members with over 14 years of using the name and mark lost the case.

Post judgment, I ended up agreeing to sell them a license to use the AeroPlan name specifically to be used for a frequent flyer program (nothing else) and was awarded my attorney's fees (and all costs related to the litigation) as part of the settlement.

Sure I was pissed that they were using a name that I owned and had a desire to enforce my rights, but at the same time, I knew that I could force them to the table to make me an offer that I couldn't refuse. I see the exact thing playing out here. I don't beleive Ferrari wishes to operate or maintain a message board because if they did, then there would be a factory site. What I see here is Ferrari quietly sitting back all this time to allow someone else to develop such a site and create a following and franchise value (at no expense to them) only to step in later and excercise their right to enforce the ownership and rights to their mark.

As a user/member, I could really care less what the URL is called as Rob shouldn't at this point either. If the site were to be re-branded under another name, I am sure all will still come visit. It may be hard from a business perspective to continue to originate new members utilizing an obscure name that doesn't contain the word "Ferrari", but this is where the deck is stacked in Ferrari's favor and they know it.

I'm only speculating here but I don't see Ferrari just walking away and allowing the use of the name empty handed. I would assume that if they were to allow a continuation of the name that they would want oversight, creative input, as well as some form of monetary compensation. Unless Rob is prepared to fulfill those requests, then Ferrari's lawyers will eventually rear their ugly heads and the game will be on.

Those that have pledged the $1000 donations in this thread torwards the legal fund are extremely generous, but in reality they had better add a zero or two because the costs for this kind of fight is off the charts

 

But there has not been one person with any credibility to say they are even considering any action against FChat. The highest level contact the other guys have is a web page updater. I mean, come on, hardly credible.

 

No no, you misunderstood. It was directed at what you said, about the Ferrarichat name. You made it sound like, that you wouldn't find this site unless you knew that it was called Ferrari-chat Or that was how I interpreted it.

 

Ferrari versus Google... We'd all be driving Google Enzo's in about two years. Can you imagine the F1 team.. Scuderia Google? The only thing Ferrari would do is hurt their car sales and push themselves down in the market.


Do any of us ever wonder what killed the free market and ingenuity? It's greed and control. The big guy keeping the little guy down who has a great idea and the desire to make it happen. That's why soon there will only be one big giant company in the world that builds everything and it's going to be called Walmart. It's pretty close to communism, but a lot worse.

 

Didn't you read the topic? It's a fact, that Ferrari's legal department is working on this right now. Rob even said it himself. Whether or not anything is gonna happen is another question.. My guess is its 50/50. Either they are gonna let him have the site, or they are gonna come at him in full force.

I danish.. hmm what do you call those people who arrange funerals and makes the urns to keep ashes in? Well, a danish one of those, made a red Ferrari urn for a kid who died, who was a Ferrari fan. Ferrari sued him to hell and back.

 

If you do wind up with a problem maybe its possible to pay a licensing fee to use the name. IMO even if you doubled your subscription fee it would still be a bargain.

 

More than one way to skin a cat...

 

So Dr Z goes to visit the new Chrysler Jeep plant in Bejing China. On the way from the airport he comments about how great the ride is in the Jeep that he is traveling in on the way to the plant opening. It isn't until after he get's to the plant that he realizes he has been traveling in a unbadged Jeep Clone.. Chrysler shuttered the plant a month later, the Chinese could sell the same vehicle for 2/3 less money. Not long after that, Daimler puts Chrysler/Jeep up for sale.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/22/beijing-2008-from-jeep-clones-to-this-beijing-700r-concept/

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/22/beijing-2008-land-wrangler-its-the-beijing-b40/

 

Yeah, the topic was started by a troll, for some disgruntled former members. Where did Rob say it, I must've missed it. But, it seems like someone sent a generic online letter to Ferrari, and they got a confirmation e-letter that they received the e-letter. whoooooo

Where is ********* on rankings, I never heard of them until this thread, and quite frankly, it's not that appealing.

 

You could all learn from these guys....


http://www.501stlegion.org/index.php


( Yes, I was once a member. )

 

+1

 

-1

 

Thanks for proving GS right.

 

Jonas will return in two weeks to speak on Gustan's behalf.

 

That would be some trick, considering that "Ferrari" is a family name, like "Smith" or "Gates". I've read medical studies by a Dr. Ferrari, seen models named "Ferrari", etc.

"Microsoft" might be a unique business name, but when you're dealing with a family name, it's not like you can tell everyone named "Sears" that they have to change their names.

For that matter, "Ferrarichat" is more of a unique trade name than Ferrari.

 

Thanks.

(And what took so long??)

 

Thank you, Wax. He won't be missed...

 

OK it's time. Ferrari does need to protect the name. The law requires you search and protect your name in order to keep it. They should charge Rob $1/year to use it. They (Ferrari) protect it by making sure it is licensed by themselves. Done.

aehaas

 

As of 7:57 EST, on 12th day of August, in the Year of Our Lord, 2008, the Top 100 Search Terms thus far, *drum roll*...
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login