I'm voting for Leedom's. Ford is really going after people and I'm afraid if we use the SVT snake they might come after us....

I would not worry about it. If FORD doesn't like it, they will send out a letter wanting money. :sm_up_there:

If it's more than $20, we're on sketchy ground. If we stylize the snake and make it our own, it becomes more and more a grey area. Then only a real prick in their legal department would make an issue of it, which is still possible. I wonder what joedls's preference for direction is?

I thought that they were only after people who were selling unlicenced merchandise. We would not be selling anything therefore we wouldn't be violating the copyright. Enkeivette, this is your field can you confirm?

In the field of IP, if you display a trademarked image, you as the licensee, or sublicensee (having bought a shirt, hat, etc.) will have paid for the right to use licensor's trademark. The fact we aren't selling a product is irrelevant to them. We would be publicly displaying their trademark without having licensed the use of the trademark.

Here's what most likely would happen. We could use it, potentially for a long period of time. Then eventually Ford Legal somehow finds out. Their most likely first course of action would simply be to send a cease and desist order, which means remove the trademark. Even I (and I'm super strict about this stuff) wouldn't expect to be sued for any monetary compensation since as you stated, it is not our intent to profit directly from the sale of merchandise using their trademark. It's just that ultimately, that it isn't what makes it legal or illegal.

Do you really think FORD is going to raise a stink about you using the Snake on the vehicle? We sell a number of licensed products (GM) here. I have never seen GM go after anyone for their use on a Vehicle.No matter how they used them.:motorsmile:

I would guess that's entirely a function of how exposed the car becomes. Additionally, since the car is connected to an entity (Motorgen.com) and not just a private individual, it raises the possibility of them raising a stink. BTW, I'm not saying forget it, just raising a flag and discussing risk aversion. I think keeping the basic design and stylizing the snake will substantially reduce the probability of possible trouble. Let's go ahead and one with a couple of variants of these two designs and see which one everyone likes the most on pure aesthetics. Then we can talk about it in concrete terms.

Since you are using the term "Snake" and not "Cobra" I'd say use it. ;)

I like this one. I'd just say make the snake a little bigger. :thumbs_up:

I agree with Glenn. I like the way this looks better than having the snake on top of the RX.