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BMW loses ‘M’ battle with Nissan

 
7 1,773 views Aug 8, 2007

BMW loses ‘M’ battle with Nissan

BMW loses ‘M’ battle with Nissan

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BMW has lost a court battle in Canada to prevent Nissan from using the letter ‘M’ for what BMW describes as its rival's "inferior and more modestly priced" models. The latest announcement comes several months after BMW originally won an injunction to stop Nissan from using the letter. The original injunction was later overturned on appeal.

Part of BMW’s problem is the difficulty in proving that there was a trademark infringement but that won’t stop it from appealing the latest decision, reports the Financial Post. Officials from Munich didn’t object to Nissan using the letter for the Infiniti "M35" and "M45" but when the Japanese carmaker ran an advertisement in Canada, which stated “the M is coming,” they decided to take action.

BMW’s only option now is to either petition the Supreme Court to listen to its case or reach an agreement with Nissan.



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Comments (7)

  1. By Renton Posted: 8/8/2007 11:12am PDT

    Nissan totally goes after BMW with its Infiniti line. Which is fine, in fact that is what I would use as my benchmark were I a car manufacturer. BMW is the gold standard of sport sedans.

    That said, I feel Nissan was ASININE is choose the letter "M" for a model line of cars. BMW spent the last 30 years developing that moniker, and should be ticked off.

    Not surprised liberal Canada could not find in BMW's favor.
     
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  2. By HECTOR Posted: 8/8/2007 6:23pm PDT

    There are, what?, 26 letters in the alphabet? MB, for instance, has an A, B, C, E, G, M, R & S class. Then they have the combinations: GL, CLK, SLR, etc, etc. Are you telling me that BMW is going to sue MB over the M class? How about when Infiniti sued Audi over the letter Q? Where does the idiocy stop?
     
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  3. By admin Posted: 8/8/2007 7:57pm PDT

    To be fair, Hector, they only sued when Infiniti said the "new M" is coming. I can believe some consumers would have been confused especially since BMW's M is such a unique brand.
     
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  4. By leo Posted: 8/8/2007 10:31pm PDT

    If one cares about brand, they definitely know which one is bmw and which one is infiniti, if not, is it necessary to get nervous?
    Is bmw m ruined only because Infiniti uses m? People who are easy to be brainwashed by ad and PR may think so.
     
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  5. By Jordon Posted: 10/5/2007 11:04am PDT

    What's wrong with Infiniti and all these other manufactuer???? If Infiniti uses like M45 or Q45 there really should be nothing sue them for but as for them they shouldn't have sued Audi.
     
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  6. By Si400 Posted: 6/16/2008 3:47am PDT

    Really it doesnt matter if people have similar names for their cars. If someone wants a BMW M3, they will get a BMW M3 or if they want an Infiniti M car they will buy one of those. Similar names wont really change or confuse potential buyers.
     
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  7. By Jim Posted: 11/25/2009 3:24pm PST

    Who cares what nissan do, there cars will never be on the same level with bmw M cars, and would never affect the sales of bmws everyone knows that M cars are BMWS and always will be. I dont know why its even an issue, Boring Boring Nissans
     
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