GM to resolve lawsuit with Ford over BlueCruise name – UPDATE

UPDATE, September 6: General Motors is set to resolve its lawsuit against Ford over the Blue Oval's use of the 'BlueCruise' name.

GM initially attempted to sue Ford over as it claimed the title too closely resembled its own 'GM Super Cruise' used for the same feature.

According to the Detroit Free Press, GM has now said that "the lawsuit had been resolved amicably," but declined to release any further details.

A spokesperson for Ford said the settlement is ongoing, but indicated the firm is still likely to continue using the BlueCruise name in the future.

Lawyers from both carmakers filed notices of settlement in the US District Court of Northern California last week, confirming the two are working out terms for a deal.

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August 17: Ford has filed a motion for the US District Court in San Francisco to dismiss General Motors's lawsuit over the use of the BlueCruise name for its self-driving system.

General Motors filed the lawsuit last month as it believed Ford's BlueCruise was too similar to its own Super Cruise feature as well as its driverless car offshoot Cruise, based in San Francisco.

According to The Verge, Ford defended its choice of name, saying it was in reference to the generic cruise control feature rather than undermining an existing trademark.

“Consumers understand ‘cruise’ to refer to a feature in their vehicle that performs part of the driving task or assists them in driving,” said Ford in its motion to dismiss the case.

“They do not associate that term with any one company or brand.”

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Ford's BlueCruise technology

JULY 28: US automotive giants GM and Ford are going head to head in the courts, after GM claimed Ford's new name for its ‘BlueCruise’ self-driving system is too similar to its own ‘Super Cruise’.

Ford announced its new hands-free BlueCruise technology in April this year, which GM believes is a trademark infringement and unfair competition to its Super Cruise self-driving tech – first announced in 2012.

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Ford's BlueCruise system

According to Reuters, last week GM and its Cruise robo-taxi subsidiary filed the lawsuit in California's federal court to stop Ford from using the name BlueCruise for its hands-free technology, as well claiming unspecified damages.

In a statement, GM said: “[We] had hoped to resolve the trademark infringement matter with Ford amicably, we were left with no choice but to vigorously defend our brands.”

In the lawsuit documents, GM claimed "Ford knew what it was doing," and "Ford's decision to rebrand by using a core mark used by GM and Cruise will inevitably cause confusion."

In response, Ford said the lawsuit was "meritless and frivolous."

"Drivers for decades have understood what cruise control is, every automaker offers it, and 'cruise' is common shorthand. That’s why BlueCruise was chosen as the name for the next evolution of Ford’s Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control," the carmaker said in a statement.

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GM's Super Cruise system

Ford also highlighted that other manufacturers use similar nicknames involving the word 'cruise' – including Hyundai’s Smart Cruise Control, which Ford said “GM has had zero issue with”.

The Cruise subsidiary involved in the lawsuit was acquired by GM in 2016. The Super Cruise technology first announced in 2012 has been used in GM products since 2017.