Mustang Club of Maryland

Jim,
I'd love to believe you - and I HOPE that you are correct! But I must admit that all the hype has me worried. If we simply disregard the indications we are seeing, that could be a potentially dangerous excersize in apathy. More information on this would be the only thing that would settle my stomach - especially some type of official communication directly from FORD. For evidence of my deep concern (including for our own club), please consult the latest (July 2006) edition of Mustang Monthly. On pages 8 & 9 is a writeup by Ron Bramlett that is very eye-opening. If you can discredit his writing via official FORD communication, I would sleep better.

Here are a few quotes from the article - I'm sure you can see my concern.
"Believe me, it's not that we want to change our name. It's that Ford Motor Company is forcing us to do so!"
"According to FORD and thier lawyers, if you own a company with 'Mustang' in the company name, eventually you're going to be contacted by FORD's lawyers and told to change your name or get sued, too. Then, they'll get around to the Mustang magazines and clubs. I kid you not, that's exactly what I've been told!"
"... the demand letter ordered us to send a cashier's check for several thousands of dollars... to pay for damages we had supposedly caused to Ford Motor Company."
"I got the shock of my life when the person I talked to at FORD confirmed that Ford Motor Company had indeed hired the law firm in question and authorized them to send us the letter we had been sent. After a 15 minute conversation, I was told to 'take the letter seriously or..."

I'm sure you see my concern. It's going to take a bit more convincing to make me close my eyes to this one...

_________________
Rick HinkleMCOM
Facebook - Mustang Rescue
N3HIA

We can always change our name to the Stang Club of Maryland SCOM not SCUM lol just kidding. still like MCOM, someone is crazy. Ford needs to concentrate on getting Stang buyers, Dan

_________________

"I think people are so passionate about Mustang because it gives you a sense of freedom. especially in a red convertible.

Jack,
Thank You for that e-mail. I have seen articles, like the link below will show you about businesses. And that is just who the lawyers in question are "after" if I could use that word.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... 00302/1003
maybe you can forward it on to Rick? Mustangs Plus is one big one under the gun and in the above article it states " Since 2000, the firm has sent "hundreds" of similar letters to businesses perceived to have trampled on Ford trademarks, Phillips said."
Clubs are non-profit organizations that Ford and Ford's franchises support. That's why I don't worry.
Another quote from that article.."In the 1990's, Ford sent guidelines to selected restoration parts manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, including Mustangs Plus, authorizing the use of trademarked names as long the business name was accompanied by a qualifying word or phrase such as "vintage" or "classic."
MCA, or any club that I know of has never received anything!
Jim