Henrik Fisker, the man behind the Ford/Galpin “Rocket” Mustang and the namesake behind the failed Fisker Automotive project that produced the Karma electric vehicle, is now in the crosshairs of Aston Martin. Named in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Central District Court of California as a defendant along with Galpin Motors and Galpin Auto Services (GAS), Fisker is accused of using Aston Martin trademarks without consent to promote the Thunderbolt, a concept which Fisker displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance earlier this month.
According to the lawsuit, late last year Fisker approached Aston Martin about the Thunderbolt, which would be a visual re-do of an Aston Martin product. Aston Martin refused to go along with the product and informed Fisker that any public display of such a car would be a direct violation of A-M’s trademark policies. And simply by looking at the Thunderbolt concept, it’s not difficult to see why Aston Martin has brought the lawsuit: The car’s overall shape screams Aston Martin design language, the grille’s shape is retained, the vent in the fender is retained, and during the presentation, Fisker even explained that the Thunderbolt was created using an Aston Martin Vanquish as a platform, which Aston Martin claims isn’t true, believing instead that the Thunderbolt was created from either a DB9 or DBS. Additionally, Fisker had claimed that a production run of Thunderbolts would created with the help of GAS and sold through Galpin’s Aston Martin dealership.
Quoting the lawsuit, “Fisker’s extensive advertising and promotion of the Thunderbolt Prototype, featuring minor variations of Aston Martin’s iconic trademarks, with the intent to later sell a different production version of the Thunderbolt constitutes a classic “bait-and-switch” scheme. Fisker’s bad-faith intent to free-ride off the tremendous goodwill associated with the famous Aston Martin Mark, Wings Logo, Side Vent Mark and Vanquish Mark could not be more transparent. There is simply no other reason why Fisker would use Aston Martin’s proprietary design elements in the Thunderbolt Prototype to sell a production car that will allegedly have none of those same iconic proprietary designs.”
The lawsuit also goes after Galpin for violations of the dealer agreement, including where Galpin put the Thunderbolt on their website and linked it to their Aston Martin sales. Aston’s lawyers made certain they have their bases covered, and it wasn’t difficult to do, since the Thunderbolt received press coverage as well as social media attention. Screengrabs and Twitter links were included, along with comparison pictures for proof. Fisker and Galpin aren’t in a good position and it’s only going to get worse. The lawsuit claims trademark infringement, passing off trademarks as one’s own, unfair competition, false advertising, trademark dilution, trademark misappropriation, intentional interference with contractual relationships, and interference with prospective economic advantage. The case, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. v. Fisker, will be one to watch.
As proven by the poor judgment of some of the figures in the car industry stupid must be sold by the case and these guys can’t get enough of the drink.
Taking on Aston Martin after ripping them off? Ten bucks on Aston……………
Henrik Fisker ;
From iconic car designer
To a somewhat humorous coach builder
To a down right laughable automotive manufacture
And now … a Copyright & Design thief
How the mighty have fallen …….. sad really
I’ve come to few Henrik Fisker as kind of a modern day Earl Muntz
Except Muntz was actually pretty successful. Maybe Fisker should’ve have smashed more Karmas with a sledgehammer on TV to try and sell them
Ehhhhh … I can kind of see the comparison … but then again .. Muntz started out as a Car Salesman … which in my mind is just about as low as you can go on the evolutionary scale of things … (the majority being blatant self serving lying con artists hiding under the pretense of legitimate sales/business men ) Only Muntz was pretty blatant from day one what his intentions were . And then he tried his hand at manufacturing what turned out to be pretty much a disaster …
Whereas Fisker was in his heyday …. about as legitimate and straight laced [ as well as damn successful ] as one could be … later letting his ego go to his head and trying to do that [ becoming his own brand ] which he was incapable of . Even BMW has said had Fisker stuck with design [ his genuine calling and talent ] Henrik would be amongst the automotive design giants of today
So …. errr … one [ Muntz ] started out a con artist .. and continued on being a con artist to the very end
Whereas the other [ Fisker ] came out the gate straight as an arrow .. later allowing his ego to maneuver him into a venture he had no business getting involved with .. and then when things were obviously heading downhill … started adapting the Grifter mentality in order to try and survive
Hmmmmmn … so … ahhh …. nope … after careful reflection [ and banging this out ] …. I just aint seein it there Nick ole bean 😉
To paraphrase the great Jeremy Clarkson – Fister -you can imagine the thrusting sort of fellow that will be into this car!
Tuesday night Caesar was back in town 400 pounds of volcanic hell…
It’s going right up your poop chute!
Whats truly ironic about this is in light of Aston Martins present desperate financial status ..
[ they have lost several major investors .. found no new ones to take their place .. every car has been sold at a loss .. especially the Cygnet .. and are on the verge of financial ruin ] …
… one would of thought AM would have welcomed Henriks desire to create a Tuner car from an Aston Martin … from both the promotional as well as the potential increased sales point of view ..
.. rather than fight Fisker tooth and nail both beforehand and after the fact … and now wasting time and a lot of money [they do not have ] on what no doubt will be a very long , protracted , expensive and dirty court case .
Hmmmn … so was [ and is ] A) Aston Martin afraid Henrik would out design them ? [ having seen the new 007 AM … I\’d say he has with the Thunderbolt ] … or ..B) .. has Aston Martin finally lost all perspective and semblance of reality ?
My guess in light of all thats gone on at Aston Martin ever since being shed from Fords PAG ?
All of the above .. and then some 😉
Taking an Aston Martin, modifying it and reselling it. I’m not real clear on how this is different from what Saleen and Roush do?
Saleen and Roush have a relationship with Ford. Fisker asked AM, they said no. The big problem is where he took a DB9 or DBS and is trying to say it is a Vanquish. Yeah AM designs are like a ZZ Top song (all sound the same, but are different), but what Fisker seems to be doing is displaying a Malibu, when he plans on producing a Cruze. Btw, I like ZZ Top (and AM)