Factory Five's Opposition to USPTO Application Upheld

Don · #1 (**permalink**) 11-02-2010, 07:31 AM

From the Factory Five Newsletter:

http://www.factoryfive.com/roadster/update/shape.html

JWilly · #2 (**permalink**) 11-02-2010, 12:22 PM

Congratulations to FFR! I read the document but maybe some of the lawyers on this site can help me sort out the legalese.

In the ruling (according to my reading):

The Cobra 427 s/c shape is not distinctive (too many companies have been producing replicas for too long, including CS himself). But was not that already decided in the earlier suit against SPF...why was this new ruling necessary?

The Cobra shape is not generic. Huh????

CS did not abandon the Cobra. Huh???

CS did not commit fraud. OK, no problem there.

Is it possible now after this suit, that this issue could rear its head again...or is this the absolute death knell for future lawsuits against the replica companies? Or could there be suits involving the other Cobra models (e.g., 289 FIA)?

Excaliber · #3 (**permalink**) 11-02-2010, 02:27 PM

Here's a link to an earlier thread discussing this.

FFR prevails in suit against Shelby

There is also a thread on the SAAC forum and of course the FFR site as well.

CS did indeed abandon the Cobra, if it were not for the replica's he would STILL be abandoning them. He owes a lot to replica manufacturers, not vice versa.

The shape is now in the public domain because it's not distinctive to Shelby. Nor is it distinctive to AC in England, or Ford, or FFR, or SPF or anybody else. Distinctive means: The general public associates a brand or trademark with ONE company or person. Such is not the case with the Cobra, it is associated with various groups, some of which are replica manufacturers. It was also noted that Shelby's modern version is a "replica", which finally answers the "is it real" question!

Paul F · #4 (**permalink**) 11-02-2010, 04:02 PM

Well, for those that like to have the discussion of real cobras from some authority, we now have a U.S. judge telling us:

In the early 1990s, Shelby also began to produce
“continuation” models or his particular replicas of

original Cobras, including the Cobra 427 S/C, also
principally in the form of kits.