GM files trademark infringement lawsuit over 'Cruze' against Ford

by Jo Youjin

Published 26 Jul.2021 07:23(KST)

"Exclusive Trademark Infringement" vs "Merely a Common Abbreviation"

Photo by Bloomberg News

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The conflict between American automakers General Motors (GM) and Ford over the trademark rights of the driver assistance feature 'Cruise' has escalated into a lawsuit.

According to major foreign media, on the 25th (local time), GM announced that it filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Ford at the Northern District Court of California, USA.

In the complaint, GM claimed that Ford's use of the name 'Blue Cruise' for the driver assistance system developed this year infringed on its exclusive trademark rights and requested a ban on the use of the name.

Cruise is a function that allows the vehicle to maintain a certain speed on highways even if the driver does not hold the steering wheel. Recently, automakers have been competitively launching new cruise control services combined with autonomous driving assistance technology.

According to Bloomberg and other sources, GM first used the name 'Super Cruise' in 2012 for driving technology that allows the driver to take their hands off the wheel while maintaining a certain speed, and it was first installed on the Cadillac CT6 in 2017.

GM stated that they were the first to use the term Cruise and that their subsidiary developing autonomous commercial vehicles also uses the name Cruise.

In an email statement, GM explained the background of the lawsuit, saying, "We hoped to resolve the trademark infringement issue amicably with Ford, but we had no choice but to strongly protect our brand and assets."

In response, Ford called GM's lawsuit "pointless and reckless." Mike Levine, Ford's spokesperson, argued, "Drivers have known what cruise control is for decades, and for all automakers, cruise is merely a common abbreviation for the function."