Jalopnik
It's one of the oldest maxims in the automotive world: drive on Sunday, sue on Monday. OK, that's a bastardization of the actual maxim, but whatevs, it works here so we're rolling with it. A California jury sided with Carroll Shelby in a trademark/licensing case against Wilhelm Motor Works, which has been reproducing classic Shelby Mustangs. But, the jury agreed with WMW that Shelby had unreasonably withheld licensing for one of the company's prototypes. Both parties were awarded damages of $250,000, basically amounting to offsetting penalties. And as you might have guessed, Shelby plans to appeal the decision. Lovers of complex and perpetual automotive licensing litigation rejoice!
A bit of history after the jump:
For those not following the back-and-forth litigation between Wilhelm Motor Works and various arms of Carroll Shelby, which has been chronicled here, a primer. WMW had been producing the Mustangs with a license granted from Carroll Shelby Licensing (after the settlement of another lawsuit). After the deal had been signed Shelby sued, claiming that WMW wasn't producing replicas but rather "knock-offs." In September, WMV countersued Shelby for treating them unfairly during the licensing process. While this shouldn't have a serious effect on car enthusiasts (there are plenty of ways to get a legal Shelby Mustang or Cobra replica), we imagine the lawyers are having a field day. We'll keep you abreast of more sleep-inducing developments as they occur.
Mixed verdict in Carroll Shelby trademark suit [Detroit News]
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Comments
If I ever buy a Factory 5 I'm going to put AC Ace badges on it just to distance myself from this lunatic douchebag. BMW just changed the M3 from an inline 6 to a V8, maybe Carol should sue them for infringing on what he did with the Cobra.
shelby is way more famous for court battles than cars, right?
The more I read into these lawsuits, the less I like Shelby.
I mean, he is a great man. He did incredible things with cars over the years but he needs to pull the stick out of his ass and realize he made a mistake...
I gotta side with Shelby on this one. Sure, it sucks to sue everybody all the time, but these guys are sticking "Shelby" on every Mustang and fake Cobra kit car they can find and making a ton off of it.
The Shelby name is really getting watered down by all the bullshit aftermarket cars going around and that kinda sucks. Takes a lot of the mystique away from the originals when people do that.
The purpose of trademark law is to protect consumers from fraud. While fraud does exist in the collector car market, I doubt anyone has ever bought a GRP bodied, 302 powered Cobra thinking they were getting the real deal.
That said, I side with Shelby's right to the "Shelby" name, but he's an arrogant asshole for going after people on design trademark infringement for making replicas of a design he didn't even create (look up the AC Ace). This suit is more complex because it involves someone that Shelby had a contractual relationship with, and it involves the name, not just design infringement.
By the way, with a Cobra (admittedly a one off special) catching $5mil at the last BJ auction I would hate to see where prices would be without the dilution that the fakes allegedly cause.
I bet the fakes actually boost demand for the original. The more fakes you have people go through the trouble to make, the more revered the original is. I think. Imitation being flattery and all.
Shelby is probably going to die before he appeals it. RIP Shelby.
You said, "BJ auction". huh huh
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