Is Chrysler still going after clubs for using their trademarked Mopar name?

[torredcuda]

Many of us remember back when Chrysler was pretty aggressively going after anyone for using "Mopar", even non-profit car clubs. I was a member of the North East Mighty Mopar club and it was affected like all the others. The club folded years ago (early 2000`s) but I sort of revived it as a Facebook group. I was recently contacted by one of the former club "owners" and they want to do a reunion show sometime this year. Can anyone tell what is legal/illegal as far as using "Mopar' in the promotion, advertising, t-shirts, flyers etc. for a non-profit car show?

 

[torredcuda]

Anyone?

 

[HawkRod]

I don't know, and have no examples of Chrysler either suing OR condoning the use of the Mopar brand name.

I suspect it is technically illegal to use it without consent (read $$$). But, if the club is small then no one will really care. Once it gets the attention of some corporate lawyer, then watch out...

 

[torredcuda]

Kind of what I figured. They did go after even small clubs and anyone using the word Mopar years ago but I haven`t heard anything about it lately but our club folded 20+ years ago so wasn`t sure if they were still doing that stuff now.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I don't know, and have no examples of Chrysler either suing OR condoning the use of the Mopar brand name.

I suspect it is technically illegal to use it without consent (read $$$). But, if the club is small then no one will really care. Once it gets the attention of some corporate lawyer, then watch out...

When I was in private practice in 1983, one of the office's clients, a small import auto repair shop, got sued by Volkswagen for use of the name on their shop sign. I was surprised they would go after a business that small, but the local VW dealership was probably motivated to get the corporation involved.

There is a similar independent shop in my area currently. He has tiptoed around the legal issue, by branding his shop as "air cooled import specialist."

The local Mopar club has gotten away with using the name currently, but they are so small, they started recruiting Ford and Chevy guys. I ditched my membership after I joined FBBO.

 

[mmissile]

Yes, Chrysler pursued copyright infringements pretty hard in the 80's and 90's. It's kept most people from such behavior, trying to make any sums of money.

 

[Davefinan]

It seems like free advertising to me…..get the name out there

 

[RemCharger]

Free ads to us..
Lost revenues to them

 

[WileE]

Anyone?

Yes ! I recall a couple who were the president of that club, meeting them at my home track at Englishtown when there was the Mopar Atlantic Nationals show in the 90's. I forget their name, nice people. Also, sometime back then, the owner of Moperformance mag was restricted from using "Mopar"-type name in the mag. It makes me wonder how dumb are these corporate people when they get free advertising for their product.

 

[WileE]

Yes, Chrysler pursued copyright infringements pretty hard in the 80's and 90's. It's kept most people from such behavior, trying to make any sums of money.

Yeah... let's sue the pants off these small businesses and organizations, while we go bankrupt.

 

[SlingLow]

When I was in private practice in 1983, one of the office's clients, a small import auto repair shop, got sued by Volkswagen for use of the name on their shop sign. I was surprised they would go after a business that small, but the local VW dealership was probably motivated to get the corporation involved.

There is a similar independent shop in my area currently. He has tiptoed around the legal issue, by branding his shop as "air cooled import specialist."

The local Mopar club has gotten away with using the name currently, but they are so small, they started recruiting Ford and Chevy guys. I ditched my membership after I joined FBBO.

This happened to a repair shop in Vancouver, WA b ack in the 70s called Beetle Haus. They were forced to change their name by Volkswagen in protection of their IP (Intellectual Property)

It seems like free advertising to me…..get the name out there

If a corporation becomes aware of a violation of their rights and doesn't pursue it because of size, location or some other factor, that can be used against them if/when they go after other, possibly larger violators. It might seem petty, but they are protecting their ability to protect their IP.

 

[WileE]

If a corporation becomes aware of a violation of their rights and doesn't pursue it because of size, location or some other factor, that can be used against them if/when they go after other, possibly larger violators. It might seem petty, but they are protecting their ability to protect their IP.

Very true... to an extent. Was discussing this topic years ago with a friend whose firm handled these types of cases. They'd do a very small sample as window dressing to avoid adverse litigation as you mention. It seems Chryco went full bore outright on anyone, large or small.

 

[6PKRTSE]

I don't think Chrysler or Stellantis or whatever they are calling themselves today cares about anything of their true actual Chrysler heritage or brand names anymore to care about what some little ole car club is doing.

 

[Rick@Laysons]

I don't think Chrysler or Stellantis or whatever they are calling themselves today cares about anything of their true actual Chrysler heritage or brand names anymore to care about what some little ole car club is doing.

....unless they can see a situation where they can sue.....

The old "Money For Nothing" routine.....

Been there....Done that.......No T-shirt.....

 

[torredcuda]

Yes ! I recall a couple who were the president of that club, meeting them at my home track at Englishtown when there was the Mopar Atlantic Nationals show in the 90's. I forget their name, nice people.

Paul and Mary Nagins, went by Plymouth Paul and Mopar Mary and even got crap over using those nick names.

 

[torredcuda]

I don't think Chrysler or Stellantis or whatever they are calling themselves today cares about anything of their true actual Chrysler heritage or brand names anymore to care about what some little ole car club is doing.

It`s obvious they don`t give a crap about their heritage or us old car people unless they can use it in an ad to sell new vehicles. They don`t understand brand loyalty I guess as myself and many others still buy new Chryslers even though it is not the same company anymore.

 

[69Bee]

I don't know, and have no examples of Chrysler either suing OR condoning the use of the Mopar brand name.

I suspect it is technically illegal to use it without consent (read $$$). But, if the club is small then no one will really care. Once it gets the attention of some corporate lawyer, then watch out...

There were a lot of examples in the 80' & '90s where Chrysler sicked their lawyers on people/clubs/magazines, and aftermarket parts manufacturers. There were parts that vanished from the market until they ponied up the license fees to Chrysler; the Pentastar was a big example of that. It was not available for over a year IIRC. I used to subscribe to a magazine initially called "MoPerformance". They were sued and told to change the name, so they changed it to "MorePerfomance" but they still did not like that and since issues were printed and sent out, they were instructed to recall ALL issues out there by a certain date or pay fines of $$$ and jail time. They sent a note out with the next issue explaining all of this, asking to return the previous copies. I kept the note and never returned ****. He finally changed the name to "Performance for the Chrysler Car Enthusiast".

 

[torredcuda]

I still have those magazines .

 

[c body convert]

When I was in private practice in 1983, one of the office's clients, a small import auto repair shop, got sued by Volkswagen for use of the name on their shop sign. I was surprised they would go after a business that small, but the local VW dealership was probably motivated to get the corporation involved.

There is a similar independent shop in my area currently. He has tiptoed around the legal issue, by branding his shop as "air cooled import specialist."

The local Mopar club has gotten away with using the name currently, but they are so small, they started recruiting Ford and Chevy guys. I ditched my membership after I joined FBBO.

i had a VW shop in NY at the time and they did the same thing here...pretty much anyone with bug, beetle or VW in their name got nailed...I was Volksworld, idk if I fell under what was permitted or they just never found me...Remember when Laysons got raided at the show for selling unlicensed repro stuff ?

 

[DeltaV]