In trouble with Maserati GB

Parisien

Parisien

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UM......if they cared one iota......or needed us in any shape or form........they'd be making contact, am I wrong or am I wrong?


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urbanmaser

urbanmaser

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Parisien said:
UM......if they cared one iota......or needed us in any shape or form........they'd be making contact, am I wrong or am I wrong?


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Nope fpr a change you are 100% right. Lets just hope they see the light of day that we are actually an asset to them and not the demons portrayed
 
Parisien

Parisien

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Has some one portrayed us as demons....or all who might use their logo etc?

Being wrong was one of my specialties.....;)


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Parisien

Parisien

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urbanmaser said:
ahhhhhhhhhh ya mean your comments about me and Stormgirl.........I accept your apologies
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...nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.......................................only about Loz actually being Cess rather than Brad Pitt.....;).....;)


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urbanmaser

urbanmaser

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I think why Maserati UK have taken this stance is because they may feel there is no direct benefit to them with most of us driving around in used Maserati as opposed to new Maserati. Surely they get maximum business from supplying new cars.......just a thought
 
Parisien

Parisien

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UM...no 2ndhand market of substance....no new buyers.................apparently less profit nowadays in sales then there is in after care and servicing........so they say.......I suspect they might not want to be tainted......................by 3/4/5th hand owners who've saved up their pennies to buy one for the same money as a Mondeo...takes the gloss of the marque.....a little .....?!


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urbanmaser

urbanmaser

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Parisien said:
UM...no 2ndhand market of substance....no new buyers.................apparently less profit nowadays in sales then there is in after care and servicing........so they say.......I suspect they might not want to be tainted......................by 3/4/5th hand owners who've saved up their pennies to buy one for the same money as a Mondeo...takes the gloss of the marque.....a little .....?!


P
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Exactly my point but having said that there are a few prospective buyers who visit us with the view of buying into the marque from new Dan being one of them. Surely it makes more sense to have us preaching the gospel rather than trying to drown us out
 
Parisien

Parisien

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Not quite UM...................we are the ones...buying all the spares, getting up-grades, keeping some of the main dealers in a living at times...getting some servicing done with them.......bigging up the marque...keeping some dubious cars on the road.......Maserati Spa should be cosying up to us...........................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Phil H

Phil H

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lozcb said:
Can i take your advice as gospel then Phil , and call upon you as a defense witness when the time comes , its not my call and in the scale of things these are only small matters , but it certainly leaves a dent in your pride when we feel as owners and contributers to this forum and have all earned the right to use something that which makes us feel closer to the marque , nothing says maserati louder than the trident


regards loz
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Loz

I'm not being entirely facetious. However, whilst I doubt that anyone is likely to feel brave or rich enough to see Maserati in court, did they adpot a symbol that did not belong to them in the first place? By association over many years the trident has become synonymous with the marque, but has anyone ever actually checked that they have legal title to it? Manufacturers have taken kit car companies to court for copying designs and that is understandable if there is clear infringement of copyright or IPR, but that concerns original work. Where is the originality in this case?

Assuming that Maserati have exclusive rights to the trident then it would seem rather churlish of them to deny its use to forums, assuming of course that the latter does not bring disrespect to the company in any way. Whilst I agree that it's not a show stopper for the forums, it's equally not good publicity to be seen to lean on the little people over such things. OK so few forum members pay £100k for Gran Cabrios, but in 2001 Maserati was quite happy to accept nearly £70k for my Assetto, and where will GC's be in ten years time?

Perhaps Maserati could encourage marque support by granting the use of a bespoke emblem for forum use. That would make the members feel somewhat more inclusive without compromising the brand, and the company might even get some kudos out of it. Failing that, you could have a ceremonial burning of tridents and replace them with cut-outs of Micky Mouse. OOPS, I forgot about Disney, silly me..................

PH
 
lozcb

lozcb

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12,586
Phil H said:
Loz

I'm not being entirely facetious. However, whilst I doubt that anyone is likely to feel brave or rich enough to see Maserati in court, did they adpot a symbol that did not belong to them in the first place? By association over many years the trident has become synonymous with the marque, but has anyone ever actually checked that they have legal title to it? Manufacturers have taken kit car companies to court for copying designs and that is understandable if there is clear infringement of copyright or IPR, but that concerns original work. Where is the originality in this case?

Assuming that Maserati have exclusive rights to the trident then it would seem rather churlish of them to deny its use to forums, assuming of course that the latter does not bring disrespect to the company in any way. Whilst I agree that it's not a show stopper for the forums, it's equally not good publicity to be seen to lean on the little people over such things. OK so few forum members pay £100k for Gran Cabrios, but in 2001 Maserati was quite happy to accept nearly £70k for my Assetto, and where will GC's be in ten years time?

Perhaps Maserati could encourage marque support by granting the use of a bespoke emblem for forum use. That would make the members feel somewhat more inclusive without compromising the brand, and the company might even get some kudos out of it. Failing that, you could have a ceremonial burning of tridents and replace them with cut-outs of Micky Mouse. OOPS, I forgot about Disney, silly me..................

PH
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Im with you all the way phil , yes it seems petty , and i think they know the trident thing is on dodgy ground , whereas the script is theirs , so who knows may drop the script and bite the bullet re a slightly modified trident , after all you know me , like to court a little controversy every now and again , its what keeps me young looking

regards loz
 
2b1ask1

2b1ask1

Special case
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20,312
Parisien said:
I'd say guys an idea at one of our meets...on a Friday afternoon would be a mass picket at Maserati UKs offices........if 20 plus cars turned up.......placards....banners.........small riot.....;)...;)...attract the media.....make a point of sorts.....Italians don't do emabarassment very well....;)

Especially if they dismiss us as a group of owenes and enthusiasts, when we try now to make approachs to them!


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We could all throw our shoes in the air as a sign of ultimate discust... it worked for the Egyptians!
 
sibradbury

sibradbury

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It's a shame that I have been away for a week as I do patents / designs / trade marks for a living!

For those of you interested (and apologies that I haven't read through the whole tread), you can see what trader marks Maserati have registered in the UK, by punching in 'maserati' into the text box on the UK Intellectual Property Office website:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/

They have a range of logo and text marks listed and whilst some will have expired, quite a few remain in force. For the trade mark aspect, presumably Maserati are keen to ensure that only they use (or allow usage under their terms to) the word 'maserati', the word 'maserati' in their type script and trident logo. A trade mark helps distinguish the goods and services from one undertaking from those of another. Maserati could argue that there would be confusion as a customer would be confused that the goods and services being provided by sportsmaserati were from the same trade source as from Maserati GB. I assume that the official Maserati club has some form of agreement with Maserti which allows the use of thier name and logos in only certain ways and won't allow any disparaging comments about the company etc.

Of course, SportsMaserati doesn't sell any goods or arguably provide any direct services. So forums such as this one are kind of caught in a bit of grey area. There have been a few test cases in recent years, but I'm not sure any describe the current situation and trade mark law on the internet is a fast evolving field. I am happy to look at the letter and advise / draft a response?

Simon
 
conaero

conaero

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34,679
Si, I have just had a look at the page, and it would appear that they dont have exclusive rights to the TRIDENT, for sure they have rights to the trident appearing with the word Maserati. The only issue is what their solicitors said, which is that we could be seen to be 'passing off' ourselves as Maserati.

Do I want to fall our or call their bluff, no, its just not worth it. I would rather they spoke to me and worked with us to an amicable resolve, and they are clearly not interested, and that's the bit that annoys me.
 
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