General Motors Corporation is suing rival Ford Motor for infringement of a legally protected trademark of technology related to automatic piloting of vehicles. The automaker is committed to protecting the Cruise and Super-Cruise brands, believing that Ford has posed a threat to its legitimate interests by renaming its Co-Pilot360 technology to Blue Cruise. The negotiations, the company specifies, have led nowhere.
“Ford knew exactly what it was doing. If Ford wanted to introduce a unique new brand, it could easily have done so without using the word Cruise, ”says a document that GM's Detroit division has filed with the District Court for the Northern District of California. GM first introduced the Super Cruise brand when it announced the Cadillac CT6 in 2017, when the technology allowed the driver to briefly remove their hands from the wheel without losing control of the car. Since then, the solution has been improved - now the car can independently change the lane, and in the near future the solution will appear on other models. The brand name coincides with the name of the company Cruise LLC, most of the startup's assets are controlled by GM, the project specializes in the development of technologies for autonomous vehicle control. “Although GM hoped for a peaceful resolution of the brand infringement situation by Ford, we were left with no choice but to aggressively protect our brands, ”the automaker said in a statement. Ford unveiled Blue Cruise technology as part of the announcement of an updated version of the popular US F-150 pickup. It is also available with a software update on the Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle.