what's in a name?

[souzape]

I suggest that we look at the name of this website and then take a look a what's going on with the FFR website. Shelbys got his lawyers busy again. It might be worth it to all of us to remove "Cobra" from our site.

[pbrown]

I have thought about this. We are small and I hope under the radar of Ford and Shelby. I'm open to ideas and to what the domain name should be.

If a lawer told me to take the site down or be sued, the site will come down.

[aks801]

For that matter, might be a good idea to check the metatags, as those are one component of the lawsuit. The banner at the top also contains designations that might cause some trouble.

"uniqueroadsters" might be a candidate.

good gosh a mighty....

[Slither]

Bummer that he feels the need to stir the pot so many times over. He is only hurting his own reputation. I hope he gets chased out of the courtroom by the judge...

I thought that the Weavers had taken care of this once and for all, during a previous bout with him. I thought I heard that the judge told them not to try anything ever again in that jurisdiction.

Weavers can you comment?

[Slither]

Patrick,

How about just changing the domain name from uniquecobra to uniquemotorcarsforum, in order to ward off the potential issue?

[ralphscott]

I think the issue turns on the manufactuers of the Replicar kits and how they advertise their products. Now that Superperformance owns AC and have partnered with Ole' Shel they are making a concerted effort to wipe out competition to increase profitability. Now is perhaps a good time from their business perspective to do that as the disposable income available for such products is been reduced dramatically due to the current economic conditions. (Failure of Kit Car magaine is the most visible example that comes to my mind.) Thus the competitors of SuperPerformance are weakened and the marginal players will forego court challenges and cease to operate or settle.

As for our site name I would hate to see it changed, as we are not manufactuers. As we all are well aware Unique Motorcars has been dilligent is not using the cobra name or being associated with it and I would not like to see any spill over from our tying the two names together in our URL compromising their position.

I like Paul's suggestion. Again however the meta tags are an issue as for folks to find the site they type in what they specifically are interested in the search box of the web browser that they use. There are other Unique sites out there, but none other than ours that our specific to our kind of replicar.

So it is a conundrum as to how to name the site -- being specific to the manufactuer, as our cars are not ERA or FFR or Backdraft or Superperformance... they are Unique and have specific differences from those of other manufactuers. We are also interested, from a community of interest perspective, to introduce and meet others interested in the hobby (meta tag issue) and specifically the body style we like.

Maybe we need to have some private discussions on this topic.

Ralph

[RJacobsen]

Just read some of the complaint that was filed at the FFR site and was suprised (or not) to see that Shelby has registered trademarks for the word "289" as well as "427 SC" among the others. Much of the complaint deals with the fact that FFCobra.com has advertizing and sales availiable on the site. We'll see how all this pans out I'm sure.

[souzape]

I wonder how the Studebaker/Avanti folks feel about "289" being a registered trade mark for Shelby???? Don't try to apply logic to Shelby's actions....it won't work. I think we need to get "cobra" out of our domain name and I thnink we need to discuss the issue in an open forum as opposed to in private. I'm fed up with SAAC for their closed door policy and I've been fed up with Shelby (the man) for abou 35 years.

Phil Souza

[JeepSnake]

I wondered who else had read through the manifesto and seen that about "289."

I'd love to see 1) Chrysler lay the smack down, stating that they own the rights to the word "Daytona" in all automotive respects, or 2) the France family do the same thing. Did shelby have THEIR permission to use the name of THEIR race track and profit from the association thereof?

But, I agree with the posts above - I like Paul's suggestion of uniquemotorcarsforum.com.

[Bill D]

I believe Ford owns the rights to the name Cobra. And they're not a litigant in this suit.

CS is suing Factory Five on their Daytona Coupe. He alleges trade dress infringement. And since Factory Five is a major contributor to ffcobra.com, they're a defendant as well. Once this goes to court, it's likely ffcobra.com and LK Motorsports will be removed from the case.

This was also brought up on Clubcobra.com. They don't feel they will be pursued by CS.

I would adopt a wait and see. I don't think they're going to come looking here.

The only thing that might catch their eye is the 427 SC and 289 FIA designations in the banner. But ERA has it also.

Speculation is, CS was very unhappy with all the people at the Factory Five booth at SEMA and ignoring the CS booth across the isle from them.

Just my .02

[souzape]

Shelby has numerous licensing agreements in place...waiting until a lawsuit is filed is too late. I still recommend that we be proactive and remove any vestige of his perceived legacy from our site.

[RJacobsen]

Bill,
Ford is the owner of the Cobra name but the complaint claims that in 1997 Ford authorized Shelby to use it again.

[Bill D]

Yes, Shelby is a licensee of Cobra from Ford.

His suit against Factory Five has to do with the Type 65 Coupe offered by Factory Five. He is claiming trade dress infringement. But the original litigation in 2002 said CS could not sue FFR ans their Type 65 Coupe.

I think it goes as mentioned above that CS and his gang are out to close up competitors by forcing them to cease operations instead of fighting a protracted suit.

[pbrown]

One cannot trademark a number like 289. He may have use 289FIA. Intel changed from the 286, 386, 486, etc to Pentium because of this.

[Slither]

Yes, Shelby is a licensee of Cobra from Ford.

Wouldn't Ford need to be the one to go after the use of Cobra, rather than Shel? I cannot see how he could claim it merely as a licensee. Thoughts?

[Bill D]

Slither-
Yes. But CS is not going after anyone about the use of "Cobra". He is trying his best to dissolve FFR. The site name uniquecobra.com is not at issue this time. So changing the name is not really needed. Only if Ford became pissed and that's unlikely. However, the banner says "427 SC" and "289 FIA" which ARE trademarks owned by CS.

Again, he is going after FFR for trade dress infringement on their Daytona Coupe (Type 65 Coupe). Legally he can't. The outcome of the first lawsuit allowed FFR to sell their Type 65 Coupe. FFR should win this and force CS to pay their legal fees for frivilous litigation.

I use to admire CS, but he has become a bitter old man.

[ralphscott]

It appears he has a greedy young wife. Too bad, he is ruining his reputation.

Ralph

[RJacobsen]

It would seem that we haven't been very proactive on this whole Shelby thing. I pulled this up from the US patent and trademark office. Check the filing date on this one

Word Mark 289
Goods and Services IC 007. US 013 019 021 023 031 034 035. G & S: Alternators for land vehicles; Camshafts for vehicle engines; Distributors for vehicles; Electronic ignitions for vehicles; Engines and motors for model vehicles, aircraft and boats; Exhaust pipes for land vehicles; Fuel injector parts for land and water vehicle engines; Fuel pumps for land vehicles; Generators for land vehicles; Headers as part of vehicle exhaust system; Internal combustion engines land vehicle parts, namely, distributor caps; Internal combustion land vehicle engine parts namely, connecting rods; Vehicle parts, namely, intake manifolds; Water pumps for land vehicles. FIRST USE: 19620101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19620101
IC 012. US 019 021 023 031 035 044. G & S: Drive shafts for land vehicles; Internal combustion engines for land vehicles; Land vehicle console parts, namely, wiring harnesses for control, monitoring and protection of industrial gasoline and diesel engines; Land vehicle engine rebuild kits, sold as a unit; Land vehicle parts, namely, axles; Land vehicle parts, namely, differentials; Land vehicle parts, namely, drive belts; Land vehicle parts, namely, drive gears; Land vehicle parts, namely, fender flares; Land vehicle parts, namely, fenders; Land vehicle parts, namely, transmissions; Land vehicle parts, namely, windshields; Land vehicle suspension parts, namely, coil springs; Land vehicle suspension parts, namely, leaf springs; Land vehicle suspension parts, namely, torsion/sway bars; Land vehicle transmission rebuild kits, sold as a unit; Land vehicle transmissions and replacement parts thereof; Land vehicles, namely, AUTOMOBILES. FIRST USE: 19620101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19620101

IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: Model cars; Toy model cars; Toy model kit cars. FIRST USE: 19620101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19990101

Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78677889
Filing Date July 25, 2005
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition September 26, 2006
Registration Number 3283659
Registration Date August 21, 2007
Owner (REGISTRANT) CARROLL HALL SHELBY TRUST CARROLL HALL SHELBY, UNITED STATES CITIZEN TRUST TEXAS 11050 W. OLYMPIC BLVD., SUITE 1050 LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA 900641817
Attorney of Record EDWARD A. SOKOLSKI
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

[RJacobsen]

This one, however was filed for and later abandonded.

Word Mark FIA 289
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 012. US 019 021 023 031 035 044. G & S: AUTOMOBILES AND AUTOMOBILE STRUCTURAL PARTS
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75453027
Filing Date March 19, 1998
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) SHELBY, CARROLL DBA SHELBY AMERICAN MANAGEMENT INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES 19020 ANELO AVENUE GARDENA CALIFORNIA 90248
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record EDWARD A SOKOLSKI
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date August 15, 2003

[RJacobsen]

and this one.

Word Mark 289 COBRA
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 028. US 022. G & S: MODEL CAR KITS FOR USE IN MAKING REPLICAS OF AUTOMOBILES. FIRST USE: 19870800. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19870800
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 73730316
Filing Date May 23, 1988
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) SHELBY, CARROLL H. DBA SHELBY AMERICAN MANAGEMENT COMPANY INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES ONE SHELBY WAY MCKINNEY TEXAS 75069
Attorney of Record EDWARD A. SOKOLSKI
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date February 21, 1989