Ferrari has lost a legal battle to trademark the shape of the iconic 250 GTO, opening the door for replicas and lookalike vehicles to be produced.
In June 2019, Ferrari complained to a commercial tribunal in Bologna, alleging that niche coachworks company Ares Design was planning to produce replicas of the 250 GTO. The tribunal ruled in favor of Ferrari, but Ares Design then took Ferrari to the Cancellation Division of the European Union Intellectual Protection Office claiming that Ferrari had not put its 2008 trademark to genuine use for a continuous period of five years.
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In EUIPO documents viewed by This Is Money, Ares Design’s lawyers stated that Ferrari’s trademark had been “filed in bad faith, namely, as a defensive mark in order to block third parties to produce and sell similarly built sports cars.” Ares said that Ferrari had not put the contested design to use since 1964 and when they filed for the EU trademark in 2007 on the design, never actually had any intention to use it.
The EU ultimately sided with Ares Design, saying Ferrari had not proven genuine use for a number of goods, which includes vehicles. Ferrari has only maintained the trademark for making toy vehicles.
The legal war between Ares Design and Ferrari seems to have been triggered by the Dany Bahar-led company’s announcement in September 2018 that it would manufacture a modern incarnation of the iconic Ferrari 250 GTO based on either the Ferrari F12 or 812 Superfast.
Ares Design’s modern Ferrari 250 GTO