Porsche AG suing Crocs, Inc over Cayman Sandals
Filed under: Autos
Porsche AG is no stranger when it comes to them fighting to safeguard its intellectual property, they would have had many cases where they would have had to protect its trademark in the time that they have been building vehicles. We recently learned that Porsche AG is suing Crocs, Inc for use of the name Cayman.
Autoblog have learned from Deadline Watch that Crocs have used the name Cayman on a brand of their sandals. We have to wonder out of all the names that the manufacturer of these injection-molded sandals could have chosen, they decided to choose Cayman.
The problem is, Porsche have already trademark registered the name Cayman as this is the name of their popular two-seat sports coupe. Porsche sent a little to Crocs back in May, informing them of this copyright infringement. Then at the end of July, Porsche then took the matter to the German courts to take out an injunction on the company.
Autoblog have tried to make a joke of the current situation, saying that why would Porsche take this stand. They do have a good point here, it is not as if the two products are the same, and Porsche have to remember that the Cayman Islands have been around a lot longer than their two-seat sports coupe.
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Call me old-fashioned, but I have a problem with journalists that do not know their language properly.
“We have to wonder out of all the names that the manufacturer of these injection-molded sandals could have chosen, they decided to choose Cayman.”
“They do have a good point here, it is not as if the two products are the same, and Porsche have to remember that the Cayman Islands have been around a lot longer than their two-seat sports coupe.”
Ever heard of the noun cayman? It’s the alternate spelling of “caiman”, which a mere Google search can tell you it’s “a semiaquatic reptile of Central and South America that resembles an alligator but has a more heavily armored belly”. Link between Porsche and an a crocodile-like animal? None. Link between a company called Crocs, that has a crocodile as logo, and a cayman? You make it yourself.
My second problem is with irrational copyrighting of common nouns, but again, maybe that’s just personal… (On the side of your website, I see advertisements for a Ford F-150 Raptor. Maybe the basket-ball team should sue Ford?…)