Stelvio name sold to Alfa Romeo?

[vintage53]

With the demise of the two wheel  Stelvio.   Another SUV. 


multiple photo upload

[vintage53]

Darn spell check. "Romeo".  Sorry !

[ITSec]

There is no way to copyright or trademark a place name - anybody can use it. Theoretically, Kia could build a car and call it a Malibu. They'd be punished for it by GM, but they wouldn't actually be breaking the law.

This is sometimes a real problem. For example, all but one brand of the liqueur called 'Curacao' are terrible imitations that have never been close to either the island or the oranges that give it the distinct flavor. The one company that actually makes the classic stuff on the island it's named for can't protect the name, since it's a place name. Too bad, since their stuff is superb - but is inevitably displaced by cheap swill in stores and bars.

[Lannis]

There is no way to copyright or trademark a place name - anybody can use it. Theoretically, Kia could build a car and call it a Malibu. They'd be punished for it by GM, but they wouldn't actually be breaking the law.

This is sometimes a real problem. For example, all but one brand of the liqueur called 'Curacao' are terrible imitations that have never been close to either the island or the oranges that give it the distinct flavor. The one company that actually makes the classic stuff on the island it's named for can't protect the name, since it's a place name. Too bad, since their stuff is superb - but is inevitably displaced by cheap swill in stores and bars.

That's changing in a lot of parts of the world - at least within the country in which it's produced.
You can get punished in Europe if you label something Gorgonzola, Parmesan cheese, Feta cheese, Bakewell Tarts, Melton Mowbray pork pies, Camembert, Herefordshire Cider, Cognac, or Champagne if it didn't really come from the protected region.

Of course, some guy in Wisconsin can call his cheese Roquefort all he wants and the French/EU food police can't get to him .... !

Lannis

[ITSec]

That's changing in a lot of parts of the world - at least within the country in which it's produced.
You can get punished in Europe if you label something Gorgonzola, Parmesan cheese, Feta cheese, Bakewell Tarts, Melton Mowbray pork pies, Camembert, Herefordshire Cider, Cognac, or Champagne if it didn't really come from the protected region.

Of course, some guy in Wisconsin can call his cheese Roquefort all he wants and the French/EU food police can't get to him .... !

Lannis

Different law. The one you're discussing (which certainly confuses the issue) has to do with naming something for its place of origin, and for the most part covers food products and (sometimes) liquor. And interestingly, for the last ten or fifteen years, the US signed on to a trade agreement that requires US producers not to call ham prosciutto, nor blue cheese Roquefort, and brandy can't be called Cognac or Armagnac nor can sparkling wine be called Champagne.

When the product does not have a historical relationship with a specific region the place name can't be protected. For example, VW can protect the name 'Wolfsburg Edition', but BMW can't protect the name 'Bavaria'. Nobody but VW has ever made cars in Wolfsburg, but Bavaria has been home to any number of vehicle makers.

As for Malibu, I don't think anyone has ever made a car there - nor in most of the place names used in the auto industry. A Hyundai made in Tuscon? How many Alaskans build the Denali, or Inuit build the Yukon?

Now, Tillamook cheese is another matter!

[sib]

Then there was the Budweiser name brew-haha.  But Anheuser-Busch eventually reached an accord with the European officials that had prevented Budweiser being sold under that name because there is the original Czech brew of the same (or very similar) name, made in the city of Budweis (that's the German spelling, the Czech spelling has too many diacriticals for this site).