Hmmm…wonder how this will play out?

[nvabill]

I'm reading on-line that Ford has trademarked the "Dark Horse" term.

https://www.motor1.com/news/595480/ford-trademarks-mustang-dark-horse/#:~:text=It ran from June 1,its bases with this trim.

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1136278_ford-mustang-dark-horse-trademarked

The second article you posted specifically excludes motorcycles, two-wheeled vehicles, and tires from the patent filing.

"Trademark filing 018721280 is for the use of "Mustang Dark Horse" for four-wheeled land vehicles namely electric cars, sport utility passenger automobiles, none of the foregoing including motorcycles, two-wheeled vehicles, and tires."

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[lcbrownz]

The second article you posted specifically excludes motorcycles, two-wheeled vehicles, and tires from the patent filing.

"Trademark filing 018721280 is for the use of "Mustang Dark Horse" for four-wheeled land vehicles namely electric cars, sport utility passenger automobiles, none of the foregoing including motorcycles, two-wheeled vehicles, and tires."

The second article you posted specifically excludes motorcycles, two-wheeled vehicles, and tires from the patent filing.

"Trademark filing 018721280 is for the use of "Mustang Dark Horse" for four-wheeled land vehicles namely electric cars, sport utility passenger automobiles, none of the foregoing including motorcycles, two-wheeled vehicles, and tires."

The Trademark was for European Mustangs not American "...On Thursday, CarBuzz spotted a trademark filing with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for the Mustang Dark Horse name...."

 

[Stonehauler]

Since trademarks generally apply to logos, symbols, and branding, I am not sure there would be any issues.

In this instance, Indian Motorcycles seems to be branding their "Dark Horse" as a blacked out motorcycle with mostly matte finishes and some gloss black accents.

Ford is applying it to a performance variant of their Mustang lineup (which might include the Mach E at some point). Their trademark likely includes their badging. I am not seeing any badging on the Indian Motorcycles that comes close to this.

Yes, there MIGHT be a few lawsuits thrown around, but if they are, I suspect they will be settled fairly quickly with a settlement spelling out and formally agreeing to what each company can use the name "Dark Horse" for.

For example, if Ford came out with a line of motorcycles, they probably could not use the name "Dark Horse" on them, even if the cycles were called "Mustangs" and even if they were just three wheeled vehicles like the Polaris Slingshot instead of the two wheeled vehicles that Indian produces. This would be especially true if the main difference was the paint job that applied a matte finish to most everything and blacked out almost everything else. (no chrome). If they tried, Indian would likely prevail in an infringement suit

Think of it this way. There are many "Horse" type logos, and more than one company uses a horse logo (Ferrari, Ford for its Mustang, and Porsche for example), yet there is only one Mustang Running Horse (running pony) logo. That logo is unique to Ford. In this case, the Dark Horse logo is unique to Ford and it's Mustang vehicles, while the blacked out Dark Horse from Indian is unique to it's motorcycle lineup.

 

[lcbrownz]

Since trademarks generally apply to logos, symbols, and branding, I am not sure there would be any issues.

In this instance, Indian Motorcycles seems to be branding their "Dark Horse" as a blacked out motorcycle with mostly matte finishes and some gloss black accents.

Ford is applying it to a performance variant of their Mustang lineup (which might include the Mach E at some point). Their trademark likely includes their badging. I am not seeing any badging on the Indian Motorcycles that comes close to this.

Yes, there MIGHT be a few lawsuits thrown around, but if they are, I suspect they will be settled fairly quickly with a settlement spelling out and formally agreeing to what each company can use the name "Dark Horse" for.

For example, if Ford came out with a line of motorcycles, they probably could not use the name "Dark Horse" on them, even if the cycles were called "Mustangs" and even if they were just three wheeled vehicles like the Polaris Slingshot instead of the two wheeled vehicles that Indian produces. This would be especially true if the main difference was the paint job that applied a matte finish to most everything and blacked out almost everything else. (no chrome). If they tried, Indian would likely prevail in an infringement suit

Think of it this way. There are many "Horse" type logos, and more than one company uses a horse logo (Ferrari, Ford for its Mustang, and Porsche for example), yet there is only one Mustang Running Horse (running pony) logo. That logo is unique to Ford. In this case, the Dark Horse logo is unique to Ford and it's Mustang vehicles, while the blacked out Dark Horse from Indian is unique to it's motorcycle lineup.

Ford has not trademarked "Dark Horse" but "Mustang Dark Horse".

 

[Stonehauler]

Ford has not trademarked "Dark Horse" but "Mustang Dark Horse".

Correct, and it won't be a thing with Indian Motorcycles. Even if they could TM dark horse by itself though, the above would probably apply anyway

 

[Ace]

Some people should realize that trademarks and stuff like that only accounts for the same category of products. That's how the Ford Mustang can legally coexist besides the jeans brand Mustang. Ford is not selling bikes, Indian Motorcycles is not selling cars, I doubt this would be a case at all.

 

[lcbrownz]

Some people should realize that trademarks and stuff like that only accounts for the same category of products. That's how the Ford Mustang can legally coexist besides the jeans brand Mustang. Ford is not selling bikes, Indian Motorcycles is not selling cars, I doubt this would be a case at all.

And Apple is selling electronics and Apple Corp. is selling records (only by mutual agreement)

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