Italy's Ferrari said Thursday it has agreed "in good faith" to use the full name of its new Formula One race car after Ford Motor Co. complained that its abbreviation was a copy of the name of its best-selling pick-up truck, the F-150.
Ford, of Dearborn, Mich., filed a lawsuit against Ferrari for referring to the racer as the F150, saying it was an infringement on its trademark, reported The Wall Street Journal.
In a brief statement Thursday, Ferrari said it would refer to the racer by its full name—the Ferrari F150th Italia, which refers to the country's 150th anniversary being celebrated this year.
Ferrari, which is majority owned by Italy's Fiat SpA, said it saw no reason why the abbreviated version of the name would have caused confusion.
"Ferrari retains that there can be no way to confuse the one-seater...or even think that there would be a link with another brand," it said.
"It seems really difficult to understand what has been expressed by Ford," it added.
Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said the U.S. car maker was more concerned about its brand being diluted.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Ford said Ferrari was trying to "capitalize on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed in the F-150," according to a copy of the court filing. The suit sought unspecified damages. A court date has not yet been set.
The Detroit company sought to bar Ferrari from copying or using the F-150 trademark in any way in the U.S. and asked the court to have Ferrari recall all products, labels, tags, signs, prints, packages, videos, advertisements using the F-150 brand.
Ford has been using the F-150 name since 1975 and has had a trademark on it since 1995.
Ferrari unveiled on Jan. 28 the new racer for the 2011 season. The one it had for the team last year was called the F10.
Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are test-driving the new racer in Spain in preparation for next month's Grand Prix in Bahrain.
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