General Motors’ latest trip in autonomous driving took him to the courthouse. The $ 80 billion automakers filed a lawsuit accusing Ford Motor (FN) of trademark infringement after the latter renamed its new driver assistance technology BlueCruise.
The problem? GM has a similar system, in operation since 2017, dubbed Super Cruise, while its $ 30 billion autonomous driving division is called GM Cruise.
The word is of course part of a generic industry term synonymous for decades with the beginnings of autonomous driving “cruise control”.
Granted, Super Cruise and Ford’s new features go beyond simple speed control, allowing cars to maintain and change lanes and speeds. But with GM’s own branding that hints at the earlier moniker, exclusivity can be elusive.
