Honda Motor Company filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Ford Motor Company, stating that the name for Lincoln's newest SUV, the MKX, sounds too close to the brand's Acura MDX SUV. Said Mike Spencer, spokesperson for Honda’s luxury line on the company's Los Angeles federal court filing: “Our goal is to protect the Acura MDX name by ensuring that there's no consumer confusion between that and the new Lincoln MKX name.”
This is not the first time automakers have battled over the use of letters to identify their vehicles. Last year, Nissan filed a trademark infringement suit against Audi, hoping to stop the German company from using the letter “Q” in its new SUV line. The company has utilized 'Q' in its alphanumeric naming scheme since 1989. The issue was settled out of court. Ford has yet to issue a response to the third-largest Japanese automaker’s suit.
All of this begs the question, is the alphanumericization of American motoring really a worthwhile endeavor, or is it simply misplaced marketing effort? Autoblog's own Chris Paukert weighed in on the subject a while back here.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Sign in to post
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Continue