Volks,
An article in this week’s Spiegel Online
(http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/vw-mahnt-ersatzteilhaendler-ab-im-streit
-um-oldtimer-a-925529.html#spRedirectedFrom=www&referrrer=https://m.facebook
.com) tells how the VW Group, after having backed off of pursuing their
claimed “trademark infringements” for a while, is now again ramping up their
war on independent producers of accessories, parts, and especially
replacement parts for VW – regardless whether they carry VW trademarks.
They have secured court decisions that even the approximate shape of the VW
beetle, the Bulli, or anything else is a “three-dimensional trademark” and
they can prohibit its use. Even if you photograph your own car and put it
on a T-shirt, you might receive a letter, they say.
Here we go again. The non-customer-friendly actions of a bunch of corporate
suits puts them into an adversarial stance against the very people they want
to retain as customers. Contrast that with, say Ford or Chevrolet, who have
always gone over backward to support collectors and their fan base. Ah,
well … .
Bert Knupp in Music City USA
__n|_
°(_____)º
(ô\_|_/ô)
U° °U
Polizeikäfer 70
--
Visit the VintagVW archives at http://mail-archive.com/[email protected]
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"VintagVW - Air Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintagvw.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
