Shelby is at it again

I seem to recall Shelby getting caught try to pass off freshly fabricated frames as "lost original" Cobra frames. They had even left them out in the weather long enough to give them a patina. Anyone else remember this? Seems like it was in the late '80s or early '90s.

I have lost some respect for him, and I dont like his Chilli.

i thought his chili was pretty good, and a friend of mine's family is good friends with the shelby family, from what i hear, this is ford's doing, not carroll

Then again, i dont like the way my dad makes it with the CS mix, he double up on the "spicy" packet.

I hope it really is ford behind this and not Shellby.

Dr. Hess wrote: I'm thinking of trademarking the number "17" and the word "Fish" as applied to automobiles and broccoli.

Sorry, Doc. "Fish" and all derivations both phonetic and figurative are my unregistered trademarks. The violation list includes Fishfry, Fishes, Swim with the fishes, ghoti, shaped like a fish, pictures of fish in relation to cars, the band "Phish", scales, and anything referencing vents or louvres gills.

My lawyers will be in touch shortly.

I call "truck" as my unregistered trademark. As well as the term trucks, trucker, mother trucker, keep on trucking, truck off, and any use of the letter "E".

I call as unregistered trademarks any and all vowels used in conjunction with the automotive industry in any form including but not limited to vehicle names past and present, sales brochures, training materials etc as mine with the letter 'E' being shared with John Brown. The cease and desist or pay me ransom lawyer letters will be in the mail as soon as billy3esq pays me for the use of 'i' and 'e' in his posts on this site. (Gotta have seed money, don'cha know.)

I call the "PEACE" sign.....and the "$" sign.

I call Miata!

Sorry, the Miyata bike company got that one first.

Lugnut wrote: Sorry, Doc. "Fish" and all derivations both phonetic and figurative are my unregistered trademarks. The violation list includes Fishfry, Fishes, Swim with the fishes, ghoti, shaped like a fish, pictures of fish in relation to cars, the band "Phish", scales, and anything referencing vents or louvres gills. My lawyers will be in touch shortly.

Yeah, that's great, Lugnut. You have heard of The Big Box Store Poof, right?

you forgot

This is a huge disappointment, but I would expect nothing less from Shelby. What a joke this guy has turned into? FFCobra is a great site (one of the major reasons I got into Mustangs), and they don't deserve this kind of harassment.

Factory Five does call their cars the "Roadster" and "Coupe" as part of an earlier brush with Shelby. What a mess!

DJ

Honestly from a legal standpoint I don't think Shelby has a chance. Its not uncommon for companies like Pepsi or Coca-Cola to sue over trademark infringement, but the suit should be brought up as soon as the incident occurs. Otherwise there is a precedent that these trademarks are publicly available.

Now, I don't know too much about the laws of trademarks as it applies to cars, but it sounds like Shelby has let FFM continue production for too long to now bring up suit. I honestly hope FFM is able to somehow bring a counter-suit against Shelby for something.

/rant. Because if FFM goes under, so do my dreams of building one of their supercars.

ddavidv wrote: His legacy was all set for "great racer, master fabrictor, philanthropist and chili cooker". His legacy now will be "bitter old bastard". Pity.

That says it the best. It really is sad.

hey sorry guys I just posted this same thing in the off topic discussions please read and help out if you can some one needs to call in an airstrike to a certain location

Dr. Hess wrote: Yeah, that's great, Lugnut. You have heard of The Big Box Store Poof, right?

I don't think I have but I am guessing this have something to do with regular stores being put out of business when a Big Box comes to town. Are you saying I am losing my claim to Fish to Wal-Mart?!

derekshannon wrote: So this guys makes and remakes fans of all ages and all persuasions and earns the respect of millions of people that fall in love with his designs (and makes millions off the name) and he's going to die with THIS crap as his ultimate legacy? Dibs on writing his epitaph: Here Lies...

.....some big law firm's best client.

Lugnut wrote: I don't think I have but I am guessing this have something to do with regular stores being put out of business when a Big Box comes to town. Are you saying I am losing my claim to Fish to Wal-Mart?!

No, you can (try to) claim "Fish," even though I'm going to Trademark (T) it as it relates to automobiles an broccoli, but with the BBSP, you eventually run out of lawyers .

The interesting thing about trademarks is that if you do not continue to use them, you ultimately lose them. A trademark is intended to protect the consumer from confusingly similar items marketed under confusingly similar trademarks. A right of the consumer if you will, as opposed to the right of the trademark holder. Tradedress is another subject on which I'm not positive, but the question of whether or not Shelby continues to manufacture and sell Daytona Coupes certainly comes to mind. If he doesn't, I would think he could lose any claim to the trade dress (i.e. abandonment). The suit using the verbage "confusingly similar" several times in relation to the coupe, but if Shelby no longer makes them, where is the confusion. Also, no one is trying to pass these off as ligitimate Shelbys; therefore, I doubt he has much legal ground to stand on.

Dr. Hess wrote:

Lugnut wrote: I don't think I have but I am guessing this have something to do with regular stores being put out of business when a Big Box comes to town. Are you saying I am losing my claim to Fish to Wal-Mart?!

No, you can (try to) claim "Fish," even though I'm going to Trademark (T) it as it relates to automobiles an broccoli, but with the BBSP, you eventually run out of lawyers .

Oh. :( Well, maybe we can just settle out of court, then, and make this whole thing go away!

carzan wrote: I seem to recall Shelby getting caught try to pass off freshly fabricated frames as "lost original" Cobra frames. They had even left them out in the weather long enough to give them a patina. Anyone else remember this? Seems like it was in the late '80s or early '90s.

Not exactly he did try to pass off a few of the First CSX replica car's as originals and got into a hissy fit with the cobra owners club who refused to recognize them as original Cobras with all the value and heritage that comes with it.

I had a Shelby built/designed cobra that was made in the late 70's to go drag racing and it was a bastard of a car built with parts from all over the spectrum. Honestly the last time I saw the guy he did not look good mentally or physically, I think the lawyers that went after the club are in charge now.

Now FFR has already been sued at least once and all they had to do is change the names of the cars, no one that I know of has ever been successfully sued for kit car building outside of a few Ferrari guys who never lost in court but had Ferrari themselves descend from on high with teams of lawyers that got interesting settlements out of people.

Jensenman wrote: Another thought: how come Porsche hasn't shut down the manufacturers of the Speedster and 356 replicas? Porsche jealously guards their replacement parts biz yet this flourishes. How come Jaguar hasn't shut down the XK120 replica business? Why hasn't Ford shut down the '32 Ford replica business that's the backbone of the street rod craze? In each case I think it's because they can't.

I think they don't go after the those people becuase they know it is good for their business for people to be out there emulating their vehicle. For example. I see a couple speeder replicas once in a while. Those guys are wearing porsche hats and porsche shirts but are driving a vw beetle in disguise. The VW beetle in disguise has been gussied up with real porsche replica bits, that were most likely liscensed to Porsche.

Or.. if not from a brand identity standpoint. When you see a lowcost or a speeder or a 32 ford replica you think of the original and it increases the mystique of the original. Increases in mystique = increases in interest = mo new car sales.. ( I think)...

It's all about building the brand and keeping it strong. Not building a brand and keeping it, "pure" if you know what I mean.

This ain't the AKC, cross breeding is not only encouraged it is considered a right.

With the literally thousands of Cobra replicas, and actual Shelby Dakotas and Shadows and Expeditions, I think the "pureness" of the "Shelby brand" died a long, long time ago. He tried really hard to make his honeymoon with Chysler go away and now that he's back at Ford he'll slap his name on anything. Plus the whole gaff with Unique's licensed "Shelby GT500E" cars being VIN faked and seized and sold didn't exactly help. The man is a name whore.