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Ferrari responds to Ford's plans to sue over F150 name

The Ford F150 and the Ferrari F150th Italia © Getty Images

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Ferrari has moved to clarify the confusion over the name of its 2011 Formula One car by stating that it has always been called the F150th Italia and the widely-used F150 designation was just an abbreviation.

The team issued a press release on Thursday afternoon after news broke on Wednesday that Ford is planning to sue Ferrari for using the F150 name - a trademark in the USA for its best-selling pick-up truck. Ford is trying to block Ferrari from using the F150 name in the USA as well as claiming $100,000 damages under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act for use of the F150 name on the ferrarif150.com website.

However, Ferrari said it has no plans to use the F150 brand to sell commercial products in the USA.

"On the subject of the name of the new Ferrari Formula 1 car, the Maranello company wishes to point out that it has sent a letter of reply to Ford, underlining the fact that the F150 designation (used as the abbreviated version of the complete name, which is Ferrari F150th Italia) never has, nor ever will be used as the name of a commercially available product - indeed there will definitely not be a production run of single-seaters," the Ferrari statement said.

"In fact, it has always been the case in the history of Scuderia names, that they represent the nomenclature of a racing car project and are linked to a chronological order with a technical basis, or in exceptional cases, to special occasions. This year, the decision was taken to dedicate the car name to a particularly significant event, the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, an event of such great importance that the Italian government has declared, for this year only, a national holiday.

"For these reasons, Ferrari believes that its own contender in the forthcoming F1 championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever, nor can it give the impression that there is a link to another brand of road-going vehicle. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford's viewpoint on the matter.

"Despite this and to further prove it is acting in good faith and that it operates in a completely correct manner, Ferrari has decided to ensure that in all areas of operation, the abbreviated version will be replaced at all times with the full version, Ferrari F150th Italia."

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