Last year Elon Musk and Tesla Motors caused a flutter when it was revealed that the Fremont-based automaker had filed a trademark for the “Model E” moniker. While supposedly a joke (Model S + Model E + Model X = SEX), the Internet and Ford Motors have taken the trademark filing very seriously, with the Blue Oval filing for its own Model E trademark.
Rumor has suggested that the Model E name could be applied to the $35,000, 200-mile BMW fighter Tesla will begin selling in 2016 or 2017. Though Tesla has not confirmed anything regarding the Model E, including the name, the trademark has given auto bloggers around the world enough to speculate pretty much endlessly. Everything you think you know about the Tesla Model E is merely wishful thinking and speculation at this point.
But speculation is apparently enough to get Ford’s trademark attorneys all riled up, with Ford patent hawks submitting a trademark application for the Model E moniker as well. Despite what the Internet is telling you though, Ford DID make a “Model F” way back at the dawn of the automotive era, which many reffered to as the Model E. While official Ford archives call the Model E merely the “Delivery Car” model, Ford has not made or sold a Model E in more than a century, though one could make an argument for the E-Series of Ford delivery vans. That begs the question, to whom, if anyone, does the Model E name belong now?
Tesla filed first, but if Ford can prove it has a historical claim to the Model E name, this could turn into an ugly legal battle over a very bland name. Of course Ford could avoid this scuffle altogether by simply buying Tesla Motors out, though there is an increasingly long line of potential bidders for the biggest car brand of 2013. Then again, Ford has quite enough on its plate right now with the re-launch of Lincoln and the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang.
Now watch as neither company ever use the Model E moniker…
Source: Ford Authority
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