Geely’s nascent youth-oriented brand Lynk & Co may have to be sent back to the drawing board if Ford has its way – the Blue Oval is said to be challenging the trademark application of the name in the United States, claiming that it sounds too similar to its subsidiary Lincoln.
According to Automotive News, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has extended the deadline for Ford to formally oppose the trademark this month, to November 15. “The Lincoln brand has a rich 100-year history and we intend to protect its reputation.
“Lynk & Co is infringing on the Lincoln…trademark and we are taking legal action to prevent them from using their infringing mark. Their name as it stands will confuse customers,” a Lincoln spokesperson told the publication. Lynk & Co, on the other hand, did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
The new brand plans to launch three new cars from 2019, the 01 and 02 crossovers and the 03 sedan – all based on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) that will also underpin Volvo’s 40 Series models. Aside from the usual purchase and lease options, the company also intends to provide a subscription model for customers to use the cars as they see fit, as well as a car sharing service that allows owners to make money.
This is not the first time Ford has moved to block another car company from using a name – back in 2011, it filed a lawsuit against Ferrari for naming its Formula 1 car the F150, arguing that it was too close to its F-150 pick-up truck. The Prancing Horse relented by changing the name of the race car to 150ª Italia.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
USA memang USA, macam tu pun boleh link. Should change the brand name to “Ling Kun”
Someone with that name in trumpland will later sue. So apamacam?
Want to copy also copy BMW and Mercedes lah, copy apa nama Lincoln for what?
Proton rebadge dis Lynk & Co, Proton Lingkup. so no problemo.
Bodo ke xtau baca? Clearly stated in article Lynk & Co is brand name which will have MULTIPLE MODELS of cars under that brand? How wud u suggest rebadging a BRAND?
Ford shud just saman everyone for infringing their design of 4 wheel, 4 door sedan.
they can’t.. coz they didn’t invent the automobile.. that credit goes to Karl Benze.
Karl invented the 3 wheeler car. Not same same.
Lynk & Co sounds similar to Lincoln? We know Chinese companies like to copy the design of some cars but c’mon In which planet does it sound the same and what was the patent guy smoking?
I got an S8.
and its not Audi.
The brand could barred from entering the US market although the Americans could pursue much further. But why Lynk & Co in the first place? People might find it troublesome to pronounce over & over again. Geely is trying too hard to differentiate it from the rest perhaps, maybe hipster thingy. Just rename it..
Ford is just butthurt that Volvo has been doing so well ever since Geely Group took charge of things. If Ford had been more competent, they would still have Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover today. But they weren’t.
American car companies have always had this ‘easy come, easy go’ attitude towards business. The word ‘long-term’ and ‘perseverance’ doesn’t mean anything to them. This attitude is reflected in the cars they make; American cars are always bottom-ranked for quality and reliability. Everything is just a game to the American car companies. They know that they have the U.S. government on their side, to bail them out time and time again. Hmm. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it ?
Ford just wants to con Geely Group because they can’t compete with anyone anymore. Ford has only survived up till now thanks to their partnership with Mazda and their exceptional Ford Europe/ Germany subsidiary.
Ford is just going to milk the overly-litigious American car industry for what it’s worth. They know that Donald Trump will protect Ford and the other American car companies, even though the writing is on the wall.
So basically Americans have a poor grasp of the english language
How about Kia’s Forte? Sounds and spells pretty much same to Ford, why not sue kaw kaw?
Korean kan kuncu kepada USA, mana boleh sue.
Takut la tu… Kena pulak volvo is lync n co dgn P1
It’s ‘link and co’, nobody pronounces it as ‘link-co’; and how do we pronounce Lincoln by the way?
Do these two names share any physical similarities in terms of look and sound?
So, we shall see how much justice we have here, in this issue, in this No. 1 country in the World.
The blue oval thing is plain useless, nobody wants it.
American pronunciation is so dem weird.. Hyundai is pronounced as “Handei” and Subaru become “Subru”.
In US Hyundai is pronounced ‘He On day’.
The Hyundai super bowl advertisement actually has a guy saying: “And remember, it’s Hyundai, like “Sunday””. So it seems that Hyundai is enforcing the mispronunciation of their name.
I thought only orang kite mudah keliru. Ang moh so high keras, so pandai also mudah keliru? Kek.
Lynk & co > all
Geely > all
FORD is just finding an excuse for their poor car sales. Do Americans pronounced “Lykn & CO” as “Lincoln”? Please go back to Kindergarten if you do.
Ford = Apple Wannabe
Lynk & Co = Samsung
When they saw Geely’s potential, only then they take action. Meanwhile, when Geely look so weak, they doesn’t give a F*** at all. Funny