Honda Motor Co., Inc Threatens $10 Million Lawsuit

[....]

If I opened a hamburger joint named McD's do you think McDonalds would have issue with it? You bet. Honda owns the moniker. Alienware has no legal right to it. It's pretty simple.

[WishX]

More over, Metallica (everyone's favorite sue-happy band) went after a furniture store of the same name. They sold iron and steel furniture.

Who confuses crappy past-their-prime "metal" music (and I use the term loosely) with furniture?

Well, I guess they can both be considered antiques... but still. Metallica (the band) sued the store and won. I thought it was ridiculous, but again, the law is the law. They had every right to sue, they did, and they won.

To quote the band, "Sad but true."

[Joel]

"American Honda Motor Co., Inc was granted exclusive use of the ALX moniker by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 21, 2002"

i don't think alx moniker is the same as"alx" :rolleyes:

Moniker means nickname. :blink:

[Dougeh]

On a bit of a light harted viewpoint, I'd see the ALX being a bad name for a different reason. For example, you get a car nut who knows very little about computers walking into a Computer Store. Two computers are shown to him, An Acer Ferrari and an Alienware ALX I wonder what he would choose!

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

haha good move by honda

I work for a company that has a LOT of patent pending and patent are there to protect you against ppl that want to copy you

I hope alienware will lose

[Argi]

bangbang, I'm not disagreeing with this, but I do find it rather stupid that they are suing over something rather minor in my eyes. I mean, if people see "Alienware ALX" they're not going to think it was made by Honda, since they would only see it as "ALX Sedan" (based on what I know).

I mean, if it were another car company then I'd see why. But right now, I dont see how damaging this is going to be for Honda, if at all. In fact, Honda really only made me think about it now, i wasn't paying attention to this before that.

Ah well, this is how Capitalism works... (or doesn't) :whistle:

[danshome]

The chances are Honda really couldn't care less about Alienware. However they have to sue to protect their trademark, since if another car company decided to use ALX at some point in the future, they could point to Alienware and claim that Honda had not enforced their trademark in the past. And instantly, Honda's trademark becomes null and void...

As it happens, if this case was brought in the UK, it'd probably be thrown out as a trademark only protects against "someone else using, or applying for, the same or a similar mark for the same or similar goods or services". It is entirely possible for two different people/organisations to have the same trademark for entirely different purposes. The definition of what "similar" means is down to the courts, though. Ideally, one of the two companies would take the other to court so a decision can be made about whether the two differ enough for the trademark to be used by both.

And with relation to finalcut's comments, trademarks are entirely different to patents - a trademark is only a sign which can distinguish goods or services of one individual from another (where a sign can be images, words, logos, or a combination).

[demorgoron]

thats what you get for selling pc's too pricey :p

honda is gonna send an army of asimos to alienware's headquarters and destroy everything :laugh:

[Veedems Veteran]

The chances are Honda really couldn't care less about Alienware. However they have to sue to protect their trademark, since if another car company decided to use ALX at some point in the future, they could point to Alienware and claim that Honda had not enforced their trademark in the past. And instantly, Honda's trademark becomes null and void...

I should have mentioned that earlier. In the US, if you don't actively protetc your trademarks, you risk losing them.

[threetonesun]

err, who has ever heard of an Accord Sedan refered to as an ALX? Sounds more like internal designations than something you'd copyright. Does that mean they have copyrights to AEX, ADX, CLX, CEX, and, most importantly, CSI as well?

[Veedems Veteran]

Not copyrights, trademarks.

[dougkinzinger]

That's where Honda wins, hands down.

Source: Cornell Law

:yes: You know your law. Very good.

He's right, AlienWare will likely lose this one (or try to settle).