caterham dont like me much wonder why
Discussion
As Daffy Duck would say....You're dithpiccable!
Tell them to go shove it. They are struggling as are most people in the Kit car industry, they are probably trying to put the frighteners on you in an attempt to boos t their own sales. Must be a sign you are doing something right at least.
Tell them to go shove it. They are struggling as are most people in the Kit car industry, they are probably trying to put the frighteners on you in an attempt to boos t their own sales. Must be a sign you are doing something right at least.
I would say that the body style is sufficiently different from a Caterham so as not to peeve them too much. The logo, on the other hand, is a bit near the knuckle IMHO. They do get a bit sniffy about the use of the word 'Seven' as well, but since British Leyland used it on the Austin Seven a long time ago, it might be less of a problem. I have heard that they claim use of 'Seven' or 'Se7en' for two seater open sports cars. The potential cost of litigation is such that I, for one, wouldn't push it. They did successfully sue Westfield don't forget. All in my amateur view, of course.
Still think you're on dodgy ground!.Would it not be a good idea to assign your car with a "model name", rather than just calling it a 2 seater sports car or whatever it was so its called something like CCT7 Whirlwind or CCT7 FAF( Fast as Fu*k).As far as your logo goes I think it implies that the company is called CCT and by having a "large " seven in the middle seperarated from CCT this implies that the model is a "7". All IMHO of course.What you need to decide is if Caterham do get shi77y about this, is it worth you going to perhaps a long and expensive court case ?
Terry Sabine Organization (TSO) tried to get Dakar Cars (and the club) to drop the name "Dakar" as they had first dibs on the name and trademarked it. It all went to court and Dakar cars (and therefore the club) won, because they were only claiming the name for 4x4 offroad kit car, whereas TSO were claiming the word DAKAR for *anything* automotive related.
jgmadkit said:
Is it worth the fight? Caterham are obliged to protect their trademark so that is all they are doing. Drop the 7 and you will probably be alright.
I would say so . they state they are not kit car builders but seem intent on baggering seven type builders and companys. Feck em. I had a look at your company and car. I have a Tiger Supercat and cannot see any problem with your cars.
Hi Joe,
Must admit I did wonder if you might have a problem with this. As you're basically just getting started you might be as well to save yourself any hassle, drop the 7 and just call it the CCT sport or something.
Then you can get a bit of new publicity writing to all the kit car magazines telling them you've just had to rename the car...
Must admit I did wonder if you might have a problem with this. As you're basically just getting started you might be as well to save yourself any hassle, drop the 7 and just call it the CCT sport or something.
Then you can get a bit of new publicity writing to all the kit car magazines telling them you've just had to rename the car...
remal said:
jgmadkit said:
Is it worth the fight? Caterham are obliged to protect their trademark so that is all they are doing. Drop the 7 and you will probably be alright.
I would say so . they state they are not kit car builders but seem intent on baggering seven type builders and companys. Feck em. I had a look at your company and car. I have a Tiger Supercat and cannot see any problem with your cars.
The problem is with the use of the term '7' when applied to a car that is of the image of the Caterham 7. If it was a modern original design 4 seater saloon car then there would be no problem. He would be unwise to just 'feck em' imho. It was naive to use the term 7 for this type of car/company and Caterham are only doing what would be expected of them to protect their trademark and image.
Graham writes some wise words, If you wanted to make a PR story out of it (with your name change) then we'd be happy to run it on Madabout.
John
It all comes down to how much money you wants to waste on a Solicitor and in legal action. If you've got £100k burning a hole in your pocket or you are 110% sure Caterham won't take it any further then tell them to F*ck off.
No other 7 manufacturer calls their car a 7, that might gove you a hint of a suitable course of action
Personally, the word/number 7 is a throwback to the Austin 7, old dodgy Triumph suspension, 50bhp engines etc etc Can't you think of anything better ?
No other 7 manufacturer calls their car a 7, that might gove you a hint of a suitable course of action
Personally, the word/number 7 is a throwback to the Austin 7, old dodgy Triumph suspension, 50bhp engines etc etc Can't you think of anything better ?
It's better to change the name, it's not worth it to go through a legal battle, this money can be better spent on new product deveolopment.
You have a unique sportscar, so look for a different and unique name, that is part of your local heritage, a famous place, or an historical racing site, you have so many in the UK.
By the way if you want to still use seven, but in a different language, in italian seven is SETTE, and in Latin: SEPTEM.....
Maybe not as interesting as Seven though.....
Ciao
Italo
You have a unique sportscar, so look for a different and unique name, that is part of your local heritage, a famous place, or an historical racing site, you have so many in the UK.
By the way if you want to still use seven, but in a different language, in italian seven is SETTE, and in Latin: SEPTEM.....
Maybe not as interesting as Seven though.....
Ciao
Italo
I presume it's the encircled-seven logo, or just the number 7 (but surely you can't copyright a number?) You're car looks more individual than most of the Caterfields.
If you wanted to up the stakes you could point out to them that attempting to enforce an invalid copyright is an imprisonable offence!
If you wanted to up the stakes you could point out to them that attempting to enforce an invalid copyright is an imprisonable offence!
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