Re: Name Copyrights

[jorn.bereng@domain.elided]

Hello everybody,

Lawrence Govin wrote in AD # 1354:

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Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 13:57:32 -0700
From: Lawrence.Gowin@domain.elided
Subject: Name Copyrights

I've heard that the Duetto was never officially called
the Duetto because of licensing with Volvo (one of the
PVs?).  However, Volvo had a 164 and Lancia had a
Berlina.  Does anybody know the legalities of this?
Sorry this is minimal Alfa content, but I'm curious.

Lawrence Gowin
International Engineering
Level (3) Communications
lawrence.gowin@domain.elided
Office:        (720) 888-1234
Pager:         (888) 660-9482
Text Page:         8886609482@domain.elided
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I'm no expert on licensing (but I do know a little about Volvos).  The
Volvo that you are thinking of was the PV wagon, but it was called
Duett, not Duetto.  I'm not sure when it was introduced, but production
continued until around 1970, several years after the last PV sedan
left the factory.  I don't know how many countries it was sold in (could
you buy one in the US, for instance?)

About the "164" nameplate:  Volvo only used the name from 1968-74,
and the Alfa 164 wasn't introduced until 1989, so maybe there was a
time limit to the licensing protection.

As for the "Berlina" nameplate, I think it's because "Berlina" is just
a generic term for a body style, they probably couldn't license it.  It
would be just like applying for license protection for "Coupe" or
"Sedan" as car model names.


Regards
Jorn Bereng
Oslo, Norway
1982 GTV 2.0

"Life is too short to drive boring cars"

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