[Random-bits] Ford claims rights to Model E term

[James Love]

http://technews.netscape.com/news/0-1007-200-2432450.html

Ford sues car-leasing site Model E 
   By Erich Luening
   Staff Writer, CNET News.com
   August 4, 2000, 11:40 a.m. PT 

  Ford Motor and Silicon Valley's Softbank Venture Capital are dueling
over the name of an upscale car-leasing Web site: Model E.

   Ford filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court in
Michigan last week over the name, the company confirmed. Softbank is
named in the suit because it is Model E's biggest investor. Model E
plans to launch later this year. 

  The automaker said the name Model E is too close to its well-known
Model T, which rolled out of the factory in 1908 and became Ford's first
mass success. Ford also said it has reserved the name Model E for an
internal program that distributes computers to employees. 

   [snip]


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