Ford goes after Ranger fan site for trademark violation

Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Government/Legal, Ford

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As if Ford didn't have enough bad PR today after a South Carolinian dealer shout his mouth off on the radio. Now comes word that fan site TheRangerStation.com (TRS) has been contacted by the automaker's lawyers and told to cough up $5,000 and the rights to the website's domain name as a result of copyright infringement. First of all, we're just as surprised as you that there's a fan site devoted to the Ford Ranger and that the Blue Oval even remembered it still sold the Ranger.

This isn't the first time that Ford has sought to protect its trademarked names. Earlier this year it sent out lawyers to confront enthusiast magazines, websites and even parts suppliers using the Mustang name. We're not sure how those cases ended, but we can understand the Blue Oval getting antsy over unapproved use of its most famous brand. But the Ranger? We suspect that TRS ran afoul when Ford's lawyers noticed the online store at which people can buy decals and apparels bearing the website's name.

Despite what you may think of Ford's actions here, TheRangerStation.com has little wiggle room. The 10-year-old website can either pay Ford the licensing fee and seek approval for all material on its website bearing the Ranger name, or it can erase all mention of the truck's moniker from the website, including the URL. Members are currently emailing Ford to petition against these two options, so we'll see what happens. Thanks to everyone for the tip!

[Source: TheRangerStation.com]Continue reading Ford goes after Ranger fan site for trademark violation

Ford goes after Ranger fan site for trademark violation originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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guess we're next...

 

I personally received an email about this 2 days ago since i am a member as well. every member there is encouraged to send an email/letter explaining to Ford what the forum means to everyone and that the forum has in no way ever used the 'Ford' name for any promotional or financial purposes. who knows what will happen

 

It appears it has been resolved. I don't see any reason why they would go after maverick.to, since Stefan does not offer anything for sale. Makes you wonder about the calendars and stuff like that though.

 

i think we need to get a good looking gail up in our banner too

 

It would seen like Ford would be better off spending time trying to keep their company afloat.

 

they can only go after the individual responsible, which Stefan has nothing to do with

 

and here's the email i received:


As requested by many members, I am sending a new email out about the current issue with Ford.

Again I applogize for this unsolicited email.

Initially, a law firm representing Ford had contacted me wanting me to surrender the domain to TRS and send them a check for $5,000 for damages.

The firm cited our sales of decals that used used the Ford logo or trademark names, our use of ford photos that infringed on Fords trade dress rights, and for the use of the word 'Ranger' which was a trade name of Ford.

As far as the photos, I had obtained them from the Ford media site through our TRS media account, so we had a right to use them.

Thanks to the support of our members (and your messages to Ford) I had been contacted by Scott Monty who is head of social media at Ford.

Essentially, it came down to TRS selling decals with Fords tradenames to cover site expenses without a license and Fords responsibility to protect those licenses.

There wasn't any negotiations required, Scott Monty stated that they did not want us to lose the TRS name and asked that TRS stop selling the unlicensed decals.

We are keeping our name and will not have to submit the $5,000 requested by the attorneys.

Please follow the link below for more details:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32874

To read Fords response on our website, please visit:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32875

Thanks again for your support. I was told that we had a large showing of support from enthusiasts. I believe your response not only helped clear this up quickly but will actually strengthen The Ranger Station's relationship with Ford in the future.

I would ask that if you posted this information anywhere on the internet that you direct the discussion to the link I posted above.

Thanks,

Jim Oaks