No more ferrari Clubs

Interesting. I know of a few other marks that this has been done to. But this is the first that I've heard with Ferrari. The clubs and internet forums would be the first to change their names for trademark useage. So, back to calling it thebestemployee.com or expensivecar.com on a normal basis. Well, if it were to come to that. It is all about controlling their brand authenticity and I'm sure Rob would get a bit of help in defense if it were to come to light.

 

Eugenio, the factory started applying pressure to 'recognised' Ferrari owners' clubs around the world nearly 2 years ago. They insisted that all sales of local regalia bearing the Ferrai logo or name be stopped, all stationery be bought from the factory and sought to change club logos to a standard format. They issued an instruction manual and at least two meetings of 'world' clubs have been held at Maranello.

While some clubs acquiesced, the major ones did not and there has been heated debate. The factory have been reminded that in darker days in the ealy 70s, it was the clubs that promoted the Ferrari name and kept members interested in the marque. As far as I know, the issue is still unresolved

The situation is slightly different in Italy - and elsewhere, I guess - where there are zillions of local fan clubs, some of whom take liberties with the Ferrari trade marks.

John

 

I fully understand and support Ferrari's concern with derivatives and knock-offs of the prancing horse, badge, etc., because these are a very valuable property and you don't want every NAPA store cashing in on their iconography. So I think they should clamp down hard on people who infringe on these.

However, use of the name without the logo (as on this site), and in a way that promotes Ferrari's own product (unless Rob makes his own cars under the Ferrari name), seems like a great marketing service to Ferrari. I think they may be pulling the reins in a bit much, if you ask me.

 

Agreed. The problem is that for years many of the major clubs have produced their own good quality regalia, selling it to members at little over cost. Ferrari are now pushing their own very expensive (and widely available) equivalents.

If it was really about protection of the logos, they could easily overcome the problem by issuing user licences at modest cost, which specify what is and what is not acceptable.

IMHO it is more about pennies. Have you noticed how the price of 1/43 models has escalated since F1 demanded a slice of the action? This is pure and simple greed and exploitation.

 

The FCA has been endorsed by the factory and that includes the use of the logo - provided it was only used as they described in a letter they sent us back in the early 60's. Why would they go back on that now?

 

IMHO...

More lawyers, the ease of easily copying trade marked items... and let us not forget the ability for Ferrari to further market more digital cameras, computers, weather stations, etc. Frankly, i am waiting for Ferrari tampons as the color after use, well... you get the idea.

Bottom line: Insure maximum revenue to corporate headquarters from their brand/branding. It has NOTHING to do with pirating as we are discussing officially recognized Ferrari clubs, not flea market folks.

A while back the Ferrari corporation attempted to force a unified logo for clubs. i believe this did not go over well. Can understand Ferrari corporation desiring to more unify things and have more control over the use of their name/logo/etc, though at some point it may be best to have some flexibility.

If you want to learn about a large company flexing it's muscle at the little guy, feel free to look up what Monster Cable has been doing to everyone from small mom and pop businesses to movie producers to major websites that have NOTHING to do with Monster Cable's products/business. Word on the street is Monster Cable was hoping to achieve a worldwide 'Super Trademark' and therefor it seems they were busy upsetting many people by what some would call frivolous lawsuit against those with little financial means in hopes of gathering not only claimed rights to anything with the Monster name, but also enhancing their revenue. Big companies with plenty of funds for lawyers can have a drastic outcome.

Here are a few links of the MANY concerning Monster Vintage vs. Monster Cable:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=492136

http://www.monstervintage.com/#monstercable (read middle of page downward)

i could go on and on about the above, yet this link http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=monster+cable+lawsuit&fr=FP-tab-web-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8 pretty much gives you good reference points.

And as a side not, the Monster Cable venture into home furniture look AMAZINGLY SIMILAR to that offered by Pininfarina, yet is not, well... you get the point.

 

http://www.repubblica.it/2005/f/motori/luglio2005/ferraririvolta/ferraririvolta.html

Here's the original link. Babelfish really choked on the translation, perhaps someone could generate a more readable version for those of us who don't read Italian?

 

On this side of the Atlantic, the British FOC was set up almost as long ago, with Enzo's personal approval, and various logos were registered as marks. That hasn't exempted them from the proposed rule book.

The fact is that the 'suits' have little real regard for history - except when that can be converted to cash - and have offended many very long term Ferrari enthusiasts (who just happen to be customers!)

IMHO this has as much to do with efforts to acquire a comprehensive and targetted mailing list as the protection of a Trademark.

 

Making the clubs more uniform and organized might benefit the Fcar community. If it's just to put more dollars in the coffers then that would be too bad and I'm sure disappoint many that have been loyal to the brand.

 

Did you see the nonsense the factory was spewing last time? Matching uniforms, blazers, etc? That wouldn't go over well at all in my local club, and I doubt it would elsewhere either

 

Well, I'm not excited about that. I guess if Ferrari wants to sell their own logo'ed accessories for exorbitant money it's unfortunate - and stupid from a marketing perspective - but it's their right.

Maybe Rob will make us all wear F-chat blazers. I admit I've been dressed a bit casual when reading and posting here.

 

so in english this means we wont be allowed to be called FerrariChat ??????


with all that has gone on here, and all the heavy hitters that surf on the site.... "SOMBODY" should be able to make the call to leave us alone.

 

Maranello will have to fork up some money to buy the site from Rob if they desire it to be called anything else. Think of all the businesses that use the Ferrari name.

Fan club? LOL! More like Owner's Club. Other than controlling the Ferrari name and the logo, they have no other authority and that leaves a great deal of flexibility for those like Rob and club management.

The more Ferrari push this, the harder they will get ***** slapped.

Sunny

 

**** them . They are really starting to piss me off.
I ll get an F40 and have it serviced at an independant if this **** continues .

 

Well, in all honesty the factory hasn't gotten anything from me. I bought a used Ferrari at an independent (after the dealer blew me off), get it serviced at an independent (after the dealer blew me off), and will likely never buy a new Ferrari simply because I don't ever buy new cars (let some other sucker take the depreciation hit). Why should they care if someone like me is irritated at them?

 

You probably wont buy their over priced items either........

Neither will I.....

Well, I did buy the '05 Agenda in the owners section that was around $300..........What was I thinking?

 

how about if Rob legally changed his name to Ferrari, then would it be legal ?

 

Rob's usually a half-step ahead of the game.

www.TifosiChat.com

Domain Name: TIFOSICHAT.COM
Created on: 19-Jun-01

 

What are they going to demand next? An annual tax to be an owner?

Ferrari has never been as profitable as they are now - problems and all. They REALLY need to quit bothering their supporters. Besides, that prancing horse has never been copyrighted anyway, has it?

 

Its funny you mention that. If there was a business before Ferrari that used the logo, under international copyright laws, Ferrari could be sued to change their logo unless the other business released it for some reason.

Think, McDonalds. There's a restaurant in Scotland that was started and legally registered as McDonalds before Big Macs came to the shores. McDonalds tried to sue and got roundly kicked in the ass. In fact, it was found that McDonald could actually sue Mickey D's to change their name for all the restaurants in the UK but choose not to fight the legal battle as it would be $$$ and litigation would be a nightmare.

If Ferrari isn't careful, someone will decide to step on them. Thats the moral of my story.

Sunny

 

Anyone remember this, from 1.5 years ago?

http://www.ferrariownersclub.co.uk/happenings/2003/december/clubs/text.asp

 

It would be "trademarked" rather than "copyrighted". I just did a search in the US government trademark office database and Ferrari S.p.A. actually has the *phrase* "Prancing Horse" copyrighted for certain circumstances. But in any case, they have a bunch of trademarks...

"Prancing Horse" Word Mark reference:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78312680

SF Shield (it looks like they keep adding different commodities):
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78352390
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78611085
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78536328
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78459915

Nose badge style:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78459836

Ferrari Classiche (I've never seen this one before):
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78622736

Il Cavallino (their restaurants?):
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=75792992

Ferrari Net:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78067724

The famous Ferrari script:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78271345

Ferrari S.p.A. has registered the "new" Ferrari Club of America logo though they don't claim exclusive rights to it:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78346957

And finally, just the prancing horse, and just filed in July of 2004!:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78459836
However, like many of their trademark filings, it shows the older prancing horse, which leans slightly forward, rather than the newer horse renderings which has the center of the head directly above the lower foot (the newer one can be seen in their FCA logo) in the SF Shield 78611085 link above)

This is just a partial collection... they have many more filed. I don't fully understand why, but most of those trademark filings are within the last 3 years. It may be because they were recently renewed after the usual 25 year initial period. Maybe one of our attorneys can enlighten us.

 

Take a close look at Porsche's shield. Sure looks to me like there's a Cavallino Rampante in it. I'd like to see the battle over that.

Mark

 

Remember www.maranello.cc had to change their name to www.barchetta.cc because Ferrari was about to launch the 550 Maranello? Let's hope they won't launch a Ferrari 575 Tifosi!

p.s. does the town Maranello pay Ferrari for using their name? what about the Mondial?! Ferrari tax worldwide!