Legally order first, think second
I'm all for trademark protection. Trademark infringements can cut to the core of a business, jeopardising their identity and reputation. But sometimes you just have to wonder - do lawyers representing a company sit around waiting for some infringement to weigh in on, without needing to consider worthwhile business practices? I'm convinced that when a company develops a sufficiently significant public image, lawyers are given free range to pursue legal matters, regardless of business sense.
One the one hand you have companies that appear, to the public, to be mostly lawyers, and are therefore probably conducting business as normal by suing their customers. But this is not about RIAA-like companies.
This is about companies with generally positive public perception, performing bizarre acts to alienate their most passionate customers. There are many examples, but this is the one that caught my eye today:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=526088&in_page_id=1770
Ferrari are demanding that a UK car modification enthusiast remove all the Ferrari badges from his stretched Ferrari 360 Modena. Sure, it's a textbook case of a trademark being used outside OEM specifications. But is that all it takes to justify a legal team to get to work a) pissing off a car enthusiast with affluent customers, and b) demonstrating to the world that Ferrari is a cranky brand with litigious lawyers who are not afraid to bully their customers?
There exists now, many companies that seek out the ground level trend setters and brand adopters, and nurture them. Imagine the potential here: for no outlay from Ferrari, their brand is in the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest limo, customers who are interested in unique and prestige cars are getting exposure to the Ferrari brand, and you have a new, passionate group of car enthusiasts taking interest in Ferrari. I understand you don't want to dilute the brand, and need to avoid setting a precedent, but you have to ask, why did demanding the behaviour of your customers in regard to their purchases become common business practice?
Comments
You are completely right about everything you have posted. That was an added marketing strategy for them. Do you think Ferrari will have a pretty good case if Dan Cawley wouldn't remove the trademarks and badges? As a car enthusiast, I would really want to see some creative modifications on my car. And I thought so too that we can really do want we want when we buy a car.
Posted by: sjohnson | April 23, 2008 5:29 PM