Ferrari Changes F150 Race Car Name to Avoid Court

The Ford Motor Company has a lawsuit filed against Italian Automaker Ferrari Changes over the name F150 Race of which is a brand of Ford Pickup and has been for several years. As for Ferrari, they have just entered the scene with the name, dubbing their F1 car the F150 because of the 150^th anniversary celebration of the unification of Italy and creating a website for their new car, called Ferrarif150.com. Ford claims that Ferrari's use of the name qualifies as misappropriation, and will be confused with the Ford F-150 Pickup.

The Ford F150 comes from the F-Series by the American Automaker, of which the aforenamed model is the most well known of those in the series. These full sized pickup trucks have been sold by the Ford company now for more than sixty years. Some estimate that the F-Series by itself is responsible for more than half of the profits of the Ford Motor Company. However unlikely it is that people will confuse the F-150 Pickup Truck with a racecar made by Ferrari, no one can argue that Ford's use of the term certainly came first.

Ferrari apparently considers it better to comply with the wishes of the Ford Company rather than risk a court case or having to pay a settlement and therefore have agreed to refer to their racecar as the Ferrari F150th Italia instead. The Formula One Series starts in earnest in March, and it is easy to see why Ferrari wishes to avoid a public and potentially expensive legal proceeding, saying in a statement that they believe that their car cannot be confused with any other commercial vehicle but to prove that they are acting in good faith.