Gojirra99

Wednesday, March 23, 2005



Japanese automaker claims competitor's use of Q5 and Q7 designations is illegal.

By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News


Nissan Motor Co. filed a trademark infringement suit against Audi Tuesday, claiming the German carmaker poached the letter Q for its new Q7 and Q5 sport utility vehicles.

Nissan has used Q as the first letter identifying some of its premium Infiniti vehicles -- such as the Q45 and QX4 -- since 1989. It has registered the names and a slogan "the new Q" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

"Audi's immediate and threatened use of the Q5 and Q7 trademarks is likely to cause confusion, deception ... among consumers, thereby infringing Nissan's Q Marks," Nissan said in the suit filed with a U.S. District Court in Michigan.

Nissan asked the court to bar Audi from using Q7, Q5 or any other names that infringe on its 'Q Marks'. It is seeking damages from Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, and reimbursement for legal costs. Nissan officials would not specify the damages sought.

Audi has not seen the lawsuit, spokesman Doug Clark said. "It is our policy not to comment on pending litigation," he said.

Audi plans to build a Q7 SUV and sell it in the United States next year. It may offer a smaller Q5 SUV later. Audi, based in Ingolstadt, Germany, has also begun a "Q7 Globe" advertising campaign on its website.

"We've used Q since 1989," said Bill Garlin, spokesman for Nissan's Infiniti division. "No other company to date has used Q to identify a vehicle."

In its suit, Nissan said its Q45 sedan was widely known as "the Q", and it adopted the slogan "the new Q" in 1993 to describe redesigned versions of the Q45. It also uses G, I, M and F as the first letters in its vehicle names.

Most Audi vehicle names begin with the letter A, such as the A6 and A8 sedans, although Audi identifies performance versions with an R and has a TT coupe in its lineup.

Audi is an older brand renowned for its technology, but Infiniti outsells Audi in the competitive U.S. car market.

Last year, Infiniti sold 130,987 vehicles in the United States, compared with 77,917 for Audi. But the German carmaker has ambitious plans to increase U.S. sales.

SteVTEC

What I've been wondering is if BMW will sue Nissan for use of the "M" name on their M35/M45 vehicles. That's really close to "M5", "M3" and what not, and I think it's safe to say that BMW has been using that a lot longer than Nissan has. And Infiniti marketing has been saying "the new M".

hmmmmmmmm....

Lexmex

What about Mazda RX-7 and Lexus RX 300?

Q is so common as it is part of the alphabet, I do not think that Nissan will win.

Remember all of those McDonalds lawsuits, where anything beginning with Mc was literally targeted.

Guy Legend

I sympathize with Nissan/Infiniti since they have been using the Q designation for the longest time, but trademarking one letter seems a bit extreme.

Btw, the "M" moniker has been used by Infiniti since the early 90's.

GFerg

Sorry, Nissan isnt winning this. No ones gonna think Infiniti when they see a Audi truck. This is basically called Greed. Just like how Daimler-Chrysler tried to sue GM over the Jeep like grill on the HUMMER.

videcormeum

Excellent call - I was about to post the same.

Anyone remember this flop? The M30 - in coupe or convertible trims:





M.

GFerg

Yeah I remember them things. My High School basketball coach used to have the M30 Coupe in white. It was........aiite. SC300/400 competition. How much were those things new?? Like 35K??

videcormeum

Yeah - they were just ... aiight - and didn't last long in the market. The M30 had a substandard interior (even for that time) and though it was rear-wheel drive - it lacked the progressive styling and luxurious appointments of its rivals - the Legend coupe from Honda and the SC300 from Lexus.

In 1992 the M30 Coupe base MSRP was ~ $25,000 and the Convert was ~ $33,000.

Pricey but not outrageous. Acura pricing for the Legend was ~ $32,000 for the base/L coupe and $36k for the LS version. The '92 SC300 started at ~ $33,000.

The M30 just couldn't compete with those cars - even at the lower base-price. The Acura offered a bangin interior and Lexus offered RWD performance and a bangin interior. Infiniti dropped out of the performance coupe niche in 1993 and hasn't been back until recently with the introduction of the G35c.

M.

SteVTEC

Nissan successfully sued BMW on the use of the "Z3" name and the courts found that it infringed on their "Z" moniker from the 300ZX and 350Z, etc. The lawsuit has some merit, and if you don't aggressively defend your trademarks then you'll have less legal leverage in the courts if they're infringed in the future. Audi can use another letter in the alphabet. I think they'll win.

mmarshall

RIDICULOUS

This is a classic frivolous lawsuit. Not only should the judge ( or jury ) dismiss it immediately and charge Nissan / Infiniti for court costs and reimbursement of the money Audi had to shell out "defending" itself in the courtroom, but IMO an ADDITIONAL punitive fine should be levied on Nissan for wasting the court's time with this nonsense in the first place.
Shame on Carlos Ghosn ...he had to have known about it. He is an experienced enough buisnessman and auto executive to know better. If he DIDN'T know about it, which IMO is possible but unlikely, some heads are going to roll at Nissan.

Why is it frivolous? NO auto manufacturer has a monopoly on single letters of the alphabet or simple letter-number combinations. For instance, BOTH Jaguar and Honda use the S2000 designation....and they are not suing each other in court.
How many different cars and manufacturers over the years have used the letters GT? GTO? GTI? SE? DX? LX? B-series (pickups)? C-Class. E-Class. S-Class. XT. X3. X5. The list, needless to say, is endless. So both Audi and Nissan use Q. BIG DEAL.

I would personally kick my size 15 shoes right up the rear cracks of Nissan' lawyers but then they would probably turn around and sue ME.

GFerg

Whoa...didnt know that. It might be a possiblity. But personally, I feel that they wont win.

So what happened with the lawsuit then?? BMW is still using Z3 and Z4?? BMW just paid them off?? I just dont understnad why they would sue over one letter. I'm sure as heck not confusing the two cars or thinking that Nissan has something to do with the BMW Z3/4. There are so many other car companies that share similar letter/number designations, but I dont see any of them sueing??Maybe I'm not fully understanding this.

Guy Legend

Well, BMW was referring to the car as the "new Z car" so I kind of side with Nissan on that one.

Also reading around, it appears Nissan isn't the only one to ever do this. Porsche wanted the "901" over the 911 originally, but Saab had that designation before.

What's next? Volvo and Audi fighting over the S? Mercedes and Ford over the numerical 500 designation?

Fighting over the alphabet seems quite silly.

SteVTEC

You don't want a competitor selling a similar product in a similar segment with a similar name as your own product. It creates confusion and can damage your business. If Nissan has the QX4 and it gets rave reviews, they don't want a competitor selling something with a similar name that buyers could get confused with and buy instead. Or if these Audi Q5 or Q7 products really suck and get hammered in the mags, it can also damage Nissan if people associate that with their QX4 or Q45. Hence, the trademark infringement lawsuit. It's in their best interest. Obviously that doesn't matter to car savvy folks like us that can name every model of every manufacturer on the planet, but we're the vast minority, not the majority.

Honda would just love to sue this company in Japan that is producing and selling what is basically a direct knock-off of the CR-V, but there's just no legal way to go about it in China. The car could never be sold outside of China though where there are legal systems in place to take the needed action. But Honda's potential sales in China for the CR-V have been destroyed because of that. That was years ago though, so I'm not sure where things are at now.


If you want to talk about frivilous, go here: http://www.nissan.com/

That case has an extremely long history and I thought it was all done with, but it looks like it's started back up again. It makes me want to puke. This "Q" lawsuit is actually legit and again, I think they'll win.

flipside909

I don't wanna remember that. That was definitely a big Infiniti flop, just like the 1st gen M45, the J30, I30...etc.

I have a good feeling that Nissan will lose this battle.

mmarshall

How can Nissan win a case like this when both Jag and Honda use the same S2000 designation and co-exist peacefully? You certinly are entitled to your opinion.......and I don't mean to suggest othewise.......but I fail to see your logic.

Years ago Ferrari sued John Delorean over at Pontiac over the Ferrari-dervied GTO nameplate...and lost.