[chepsk8]

My good friend Dave Marchand Sent me this note...

"
Thought you might be interested in this.

Sincerely,

Mustang/Thunderbird Club Center
Address: PO Box 2909
Farmington Hills, MI 48333
Phone: 1-800-576-PONY/1-800-TBIRD10
E-mail: mustangcenter@minacsusa.com

* Go to http://www.fordvehicles.com/ and go to the Mustang
homepage.
* Click on 'Mustang Clubs Website' under the 'View All News
& Events' section


-----Original Message-----
From: tips@publicus.com [mailto:tips@publicus.com] On Behalf Of freepress.com
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 10:49 AM
To: David Marchand
Subject: Auto news - Ford protects Mustang name but only so far

You have been sent the following article from dave as a courtesy of the Detroit Free Press.

"Auto news - Ford protects Mustang name but only so far"

To view this article on the Detroit Free Press site, go to:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2006607230598


Dave is a good friend, and we have spent time together. BUT, I am still dumbfounded on why there has been no formal response from Ford.

[Jester67]

There rebuttal sounds like an admission of guilt to me. They are going after aftermarket suppliers and they are doing it for the money.

[68keyblr]

"We've invested a lot of money in the trademark and try to protect it," Bedore said. "Car parts Web sites using it are in business to make money, and they should pay us to use our trademark."

Interesting - I've never read anywhere that Ford has given anyone the option of paying a royalty fee to keep "Mustang" in their name. That certainly wasn't an option for MustangsPlus - correct me if I'm wrong.

[reenmachine]

Major downplay and spin since it's finding its way into the mainstream press. He makes it sound like it's a tiny thing that we "internet chat room weenies" are blowing waaaaaay out of proportion.

[Platonic Solid]

Originally Posted by reenmachine

... He makes it sound like it's a tiny thing that we "internet chat room weenies" are blowing waaaaaay out of proportion.

Man that’s hilarious.

Never underestimate the boycott power of the “weenie collective”. Ford may be a multi-billion dollar company, but their survival still depends on individual vehicle and component sales to us weenies.

[rsev216]

Originally Posted by 68keyblr

"We've invested a lot of money in the trademark and try to protect it," Bedore said. "Car parts Web sites using it are in business to make money, and they should pay us to use our trademark."

Interesting - I've never read anywhere that Ford has given anyone the option of paying a royalty fee to keep "Mustang" in their name. That certainly wasn't an option for MustangsPlus - correct me if I'm wrong.

How was the roast duck with the mango salsa???

[68keyblr]

Originally Posted by rsev216

How was the roast duck with the mango salsa???

It was quite excellent, thank you very much!! Especially since GEICO paid for it

[Edbert]

Ford has the right to protect a trademark like the name "Mustang" as it applies to cars. They have an interest in making sure that low-life businesses and fly-by-night operators (not to mention scammers and outright charlatains) do not tarnish the name. In that regard I like the fact that FoMoCo is taking an interest in ensuring that the name "Mustang" does not get abused or mistreated.

But companies like Mustangs Plus are the core of this hobby and the type of company that FoMoCo should be behind 100%. They are not infringing on a copyright, they are keeping a Ford product on the road, and at the show/drive-in/cruise-night venues...WHICH HELPS FORD!

I think I said this a few pages back...make all companies who want to use the name pay a $0.10 per month registration fee and if they do something that reflects poorly on the name Mustang or Ford then simply do not renew their license. Mustangs Plus has been around since the VERY early days of this hobby, they have been a positive influence in every respect I can think of.

It is sad that some bean-counter (who probably rides public transportation anyway) in some accounting dungeon has decided that they are losing money by having an active following of Ford enthusiasts, vendors and hobbyists out there. It is also dissappointing to find that Ford is not addressing this from the board level.

[rsev216]

Originally Posted by Edbert

It is sad that some bean-counter (who probably rides public transportation anyway) in some accounting dungeon has decided that they are losing money by having an active following of Ford enthusiasts, vendors and hobbyists out there. It is also dissappointing to find that Ford is not addressing this from the board level.

One must conclude by their deafening silence that Ford is laying low expecting the protests to die out. It is important to keep this topic in the forefront and continue writing thoughtful letters promoting the benefits to Ford of the aftermarket businesses using the Mustang name. Persistence wins.

William C. Ford
Chairman & CEO
Ford Motor Company
PO Box 685
Dearborn, MI 48126-0685

[zookeeper]

I agree. Also, was anyone else offended by the total lack of effort the reporter of the newspaper article put into his work? I mean, let's be serious, how much effort would it have taken to actually call a Mustang parts vendor and ask to hear their side of things. I've learned that no matter how convincing a story sounds (especially a lawsuit) there are two sides to every story. That's why they allow both sides to testify in court, to get the truth. But so often reporters are content to get a few words from one of the participants and print it, rather than get off their collective butts and do the right thing. I asked Ford what their side was in an email because I couldn't believe there wasn't more to it than what I read here. BTW, I'm still waiting for a resonse from the Ivory Tower...

[StangDreamin']

Y'know, I read the article; and I wonder what The Freep's "unofficial" stance truly is. The Free Press has regularly positioned it's editorial stance as being "anti-Big Auto"; and the article certainly didn't present FoMoCo in its best light. On the other hand, reporter really should have included somebody from the Mustang enthusiast sector.

I almost get the impression that the Freep was only filing this article in order to be "on the bandwagon"; and that they just wanted to be on record as covering news that concerned a local company.

May I also suggest that nobody holds their breath waiting to hear from Dearborn. I'm thinking that the Ivory Tower has realized that they realized thier Pooch has been well and truly scr**ed in this debacle; but they just can't stand to admit it. Corporate pride -vs- corporate common sense; which way will they go?

[electricgreen]

What that tells me is that this is working-it's been noticed at the least. Let's not let this die down!! Even if only one legit business (and we all know it was more!) was effected, it's one too many.

[RFMustangGT]

I know we are all pissed at Ford for all this but Bill Ford said himself that no one has any idea how hard it is to go after the people that keep his company afloat. The share holders are the ones pushing Ford to go after the ones using their trademarked names. Like other Ford owners and enthuists, I am unhappy it has come to this but Ford executives had to keep their paying share holders happy due to the share holders threatening to sue Ford. Either way, Ford loses. Instead of being pissed at Ford, be pissed at the stupid rich bastards that only care about big business, numbers, and not public loyalty towards ones company.

[zookeeper]

So by your reasoning, the defendants (who've been supporting our hobby for decades) are the reason for Ford's recent financial troubles and if Ford gets them to change their names (and hand over some cash) then Ford will once again be in the black? Wow, I always thought it was because they churned out crap that nobody wanted to buy like the Lincoln Blackwood (super expensive, sold less than 500 units) and the Mercury Marauder (the answer to the question nobody asked) as well as other cars littering the used car lots. Instead Ford attacks the people involved in keeping it's one sales success alive for generations. Hmmmm...shrewd business people those Ford guys...

[RFMustangGT]

No. I'm saying dumb, rich, SHARE HOLDERS, business tycoons are the ones to blame and not the companies that sell Mustang parts. The share holders some how think that these companies use the Ford name and trademarks to take away profits from Ford. Since they see their investments in threat, they take action on Ford excutives which was you do something or we will. Which is very silly cause last time I checked Ford no longer makes Mustang parts for old mustangs. Yes, Ford has made some not so wise choices in making cars that were not very popular. If Ford didn't care about the people keeping it's "one sales success" alive then why did Ford send out new 05 Mustangs to major aftermarket companies to get a head start on aftermarket goodies for its new owners to buy? Maybe it's just me but to me it seems that Ford wants its "one sales success" to be the thoroughbred it is. (no pun intended) Yes it seems stupid and we should all go on riot to burn them all but look at the day and age we live in now..... the legal thing is just not always the logical thing.

[Edbert]

Lets all be honest about one thing here. It is not in the direct business interest of any carmaker to see people keeping 12+ year-old cars on the roads. They all want to see old cars crushed, EVERYONE should be driving new cars, at least for the sake of their profits.

From my point of view it is in the long-term interest of FoMoCo to have a strong hobby of faithful followers. But very few shareholders even vote, and most are only interested in the quarter's return.

[zookeeper]

Originally Posted by RFMustangGT

No. I'm saying dumb, rich, SHARE HOLDERS, business tycoons are the ones to blame and not the companies that sell Mustang parts. The share holders some how think that these companies use the Ford name and trademarks to take away profits from Ford. Since they see their investments in threat, they take action on Ford excutives which was you do something or we will. Which is very silly cause last time I checked Ford no longer makes Mustang parts for old mustangs. Yes, Ford has made some not so wise choices in making cars that were not very popular. If Ford didn't care about the people keeping it's "one sales success" alive then why did Ford send out new 05 Mustangs to major aftermarket companies to get a head start on aftermarket goodies for its new owners to buy? Maybe it's just me but to me it seems that Ford wants its "one sales success" to be the thoroughbred it is. (no pun intended) Yes it seems stupid and we should all go on riot to burn them all but look at the day and age we live in now..... the legal thing is just not always the logical thing.

Right up front, I'll tell you I'm no investment wizard. However I do own a few shares of various companies as well as invest in mutual funds that own shares in various companies, such as Harley Davidson, Coke and Ford. Shareholders in any company do not determine the actions of that company. They do not send out questionaires seeking opinions on how to make the company more profitable, or which legal actions to take. That is the job of the board of directors. Most traded companies are controlled by board decisions so that no one person holds control over the direction of that company. Who initiated this current legal fiasco within Ford? I don't know and honestly don't care. But it is Ford's name on the building and Ford's name on the court documents, that makes it Ford's lawsuit, not John Q. Stockholder.

[rsev216]

I agree, it has nothing to do with the shareholders. The most likely senario is that the law firm made a pitch to probably the CFO and the Law dept. telling them how Ford was being ripped off and their brand name was being stolen. Then they pitched how they could shut down all of these "pirates" and generate millions of dollars of income through penalties royalties. Being short-sighted people, they saw no down side and authorized the law firm to go do it. The lawyers got a lot of momentum going before what they were doing got widely known. Bill Ford likely knew nothing of this action until the protest letters started rolling in. That is why it is important to keep the letters coming. Once the people at the top understand that this is costing Ford far more than they will ever recover, they will reign in the lawyers and try to stop the bleeding.

[krash kendall]

Holy crap! I was just on Canadian Mustang's website and they changed their name to Canadian Classic Auto Parts! I was down at their store twice last week and the graphics on the side of the building are still the same as is the name on my reciepts, but I guess Ford must have got to them about their website.

I mean how is somebody looking for a store specializing in mustang parts going to know from that ambiguous name to go there?

[Edbert]

Originally Posted by krash kendall

I mean how is somebody looking for a store specializing in mustang parts going to know from that ambiguous name to go there?

I think that is the point...at least from the POV of the beancounters.

Speaking of American companies in general (particularly the fortune-500 types) their long-term life-blood is being sucked out of them by the HR, Accounting, and Legal departments getting too much power with the board. All of the great companies got there by their product developement and engineering departments excelling, not because they had the best pencil pushers and beurocrats.

They also had a lot of help from the enthusiasm of their customers, not by chitting on their loyal followers.

[Jester67]

Vertical integration and innovation is no way to run a business at least that is what the books will tell you. Just look at companies like Ford in its hay day “total failure”, or Toyota or the Hyundai Group. Or any of the other “off shore” companies that are handing us our lunch using the techniques we developed to grow a might nation, while we destroy that same nation one “Think outside of the box” book at a time. Our long term plan is the end of the week while there short term plan is 10 years. But we have to have to have double returns on investment on everything.

[jikelly]

Bill Ford stepped down.

[Edbert]

I read two newspaper articles and seen it on multiple newscasts. Nowhere was the decision to try and ruin the aftermarket industry mentioned.

[jerry S]

Have a look at this link.

http://www.fordracingparts.com/rods/classics-2.asp

When I look at this page, it occurs to me that Ford wants to get into the classic car market. Maybe they want to eliminate companies like M+ et al so they can have this market to themselves. They already have a button for "Classics." Hmmmm.

[jikelly]

Did you guys see Larry Jewett's article in Mustang Enthusiast? He doesn't come out and say Ford is trying to shut down the aftermarket, but he really goes into what would happen if it did.