Too Many Lawyers

D2Cat

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https://www.deere.com/en/our-compan...orate/2017oct17-deere-wins-trademark-lawsuit/

Deere Wins Trademark Lawsuit in Protection of Green and Yellow Colors

MOLINE, Illinois (October 17, 2017) ***8211; A U.***8205;S. District Court in Kentucky has ruled in favor of Deere & Company in a lawsuit that was filed to protect use of the trademark green and yellow color combination on John Deere agricultural equipment.

Following a one-week bench trial that took place in June, the U.***8205;S. District Court in Paducah, Kentucky has now found in favor of Deere. The court decision permanently bans the use of the John Deere colors by FIMCO, Inc., a South Dakota company that manufactures and markets agricultural sprayers under the "Ag Spray Equipment" brand name.

Deere said the lawsuit is part of an ongoing and vigorous effort to protect the company's trademarks and intellectual property.

The lawsuit asserted that FIMCO's green and yellow equipment infringed on Deere's trademark for the color combination. Deere also claimed that use of the colors by another manufacturer confuses the public as to where the product originated and dilutes the value of the John Deere brand. In a 107-page decision, the District Court found for John Deere on all its claims.

The court ruled that John Deere's green and yellow color combination qualified as a "famous" trademark since as early as the late 1960s and that FIMCO intentionally chose green and yellow to create an association with the John Deere brand. The court also found that FIMCO's use of green and yellow was likely to cause confusion among purchasers as to whether its agricultural equipment was manufactured by or endorsed by John Deere.

The court decision said FIMCO, Inc. and all persons affiliated with the company are permanently enjoined from using the combination of green and yellow colors in the manufacture, distribution, marketing, advertising or sale of trailed and wheeled agricultural equipment in any locality within the United States. The court gave FIMCO 60 days to file with the court a plan on how it will comply with the permanent ban.

For further information, the news media should call:
Ken Golden
Director, Global Public Relations
Deere & Company
309-765-5678
 
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mpham

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I guess they should start painting them all green or all yellow. Shame on John Deere, it was probably helping their business not hurting.
 

SidecarFlip

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Interesting. I own 2 Fimco Ag sprayers, a 100 gallon boomless and a 250 gallon boom and neither are green and yellow, both have red frames, black roller pumps and black superstructures. Never seen a green and yellow Fimco to be honest.

Didn't Kubota a few years ago sue Kioti over trade dress infringement over the orange color? I thought they did at least.
 
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D2Cat

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I think the orange 1 and the orange 2 shade difference was when lead was no longer allowed in paint, they couldn't get the same shade.
 

skeets

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Hell Harley has been doing that same thing for years,,, even sued honda over the sound of one of their bikes,, and won
 

SidecarFlip

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I think the orange 1 and the orange 2 shade difference was when lead was no longer allowed in paint, they couldn't get the same shade.
Makes sense, it still fades to Mary Kay pink anyway.
 

SidecarFlip

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Hell Harley has been doing that same thing for years,,, even sued honda over the sound of one of their bikes,, and won
Seems counter productive in as much as Hardley uses Showa forks and Showa is owned by Honda.

How does that go... Loud pipes save lives....lol No, loud pipes piss off people that vote in noise abatement laws.:eek:
 

dlsmith

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How does that go... Loud pipes save lives....lol No, loud pipes piss off people that vote in noise abatement laws.:eek:
That's one of my pet peeves, loud Harley's. It's a long story, but I have hearing loss in my left ear, directly caused by an a*****e with drag pipes on his Harley. Besides, in the summer out where I live, it's rare that you can't hear one bellowing somewhere off in the distance.
A lot of people have complained, but the county cops think they are cool, and nostly ignore them.
Elkhart did pass a noise ordinance, and they wrote a lot of tickets until the message got out to avoid the city if you are running straight pipes.
Harley's might not be the only obnoxiously loud bikes, but they comprise about 90% of them.
 

Newlyme

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Bucktail you had me laughing out loud.
Some of these ladies had Diamond Brooches with the numbers 750, 500, and 250 denoting the thousands of dollars sold, and not one of their vehicles was a Kubota.
Not all of their vehicles were pink, some were white Chevy's.
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Flip are you in Mary K's agricultural program?
 

lugbolt

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...Sunbelt rental is also involved in a "similar" issue. It has been ongoing. They (sunbelt) takes all of their equipemnt no matter what brand and paint it green. It's not JD green & yellow, but it IS green and Kubota and others don't like it when their skid-steers and excavators are painted green as soon as they leave the dealer lot.

Bad Boy has a suit ongoing with Spartan as well. That will be interesting.

Yes too many lawyers. They're destroying the country if you ask me.
 

SidecarFlip

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Bucktail you had me laughing out loud.
Some of these ladies had Diamond Brooches with the numbers 750, 500, and 250 denoting the thousands of dollars sold, and not one of their vehicles was a Kubota.
Not all of their vehicles were pink, some were white Chevy's.
View attachment 41963
View attachment 41964
View attachment 41965

Flip are you in Mary K's agricultural program?
I wish I was. Wonder if I could get a Caddy with a 3 point hitch in pink?
 

SidecarFlip

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That's one of my pet peeves, loud Harley's. It's a long story, but I have hearing loss in my left ear, directly caused by an a*****e with drag pipes on his Harley. Besides, in the summer out where I live, it's rare that you can't hear one bellowing somewhere off in the distance.
A lot of people have complained, but the county cops think they are cool, and nostly ignore them.
Elkhart did pass a noise ordinance, and they wrote a lot of tickets until the message got out to avoid the city if you are running straight pipes.
Harley's might not be the only obnoxiously loud bikes, but they comprise about 90% of them.
Mine too and I own 4 motorcycles and none are loud. Haven't you noticed the louder they are the slower they go?:eek:
 

dlsmith

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Mine too and I own 4 motorcycles and none are loud. Haven't you noticed the louder they are the slower they go?:eek:
Not around here. The ones with loud pipes only have two throttle positions, idle and wide open, and wide open is mostly how they run them.
A few summers ago some local Harley guy had a new one with the loudest pipes I ever heard on a bike. I didn't think a two cylinder engine could make that much noise. Every weekday morning at about 5:30AM he would make the corner just south of my place, and blast past here balls to the wall making more noise than a jet fighter in afterburner. I finally called the county cops and complained about it, but I wasn't the first they said, and that they were "looking into it."
Amazingly, it only happened one more time, and the county cop setting in my neighbor's driveway behind the pine trees nailed him. Never heard it again.

I have a 750 Night Hawk with stock exhaust, and it is one of the quietest bikes I have ever had.

It's just a simple question whether you respect the rights of others to not be subjected to your excessive noise pollution. I guess some just don't care.

A couple of my drivers have tried to get me to put straight pipes on the trucks, and I refuse. I think it's annoying and irresponsible, and won't allow it.
 
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shootem604

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I ran 40-series Flowmasters on my Camaro - not too loud, but enough to get attention. I don't like noise for the sake of noise, especially on bikes and boats, but I have a fondness for the sound of real muscle that reminds me of my youth at the dragstrip.
 

GeoHorn

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Why does a 5700 cu. in. auto/truck engine barely be heard while a 1000 cc motorcycle can be poundingly heard approaching from a half-mile ?

The dishes rattle in my parent's kitchen when the neighbor two doors down leaves for work at 5 AM. Makes me wish law enforcement would enforce the "defective muffler" ordinances...but unfortunately that does not apply if there IS NO MUFFLER AT ALL! :mad:
 

SidecarFlip

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Not around here. The ones with loud pipes only have two throttle positions, idle and wide open, and wide open is mostly how they run them.
A few summers ago some local Harley guy had a new one with the loudest pipes I ever heard on a bike. I didn't think a two cylinder engine could make that much noise. Every weekday morning at about 5:30AM he would make the corner just south of my place, and blast past here balls to the wall making more noise than a jet fighter in afterburner. I finally called the county cops and complained about it, but I wasn't the first they said, and that they were "looking into it."
Amazingly, it only happened one more time, and the county cop setting in my neighbor's driveway behind the pine trees nailed him. Never heard it again.



I have a 750 Night Hawk with stock exhaust, and it is one of the quietest bikes I have ever had.

It's just a simple question whether you respect the rights of others to not be subjected to your excessive noise pollution. I guess some just don't care.

A couple of my drivers have tried to get me to put straight pipes on the trucks, and I refuse. I think it's annoying and irresponsible, and won't allow it.
Straight pipes on trucks are different because the Turbocharger breaks up the sound waves. In fact, if you look at a Mack engine, it's states on the Turbocharger plate it's a muffler.

I have a straight pipe on both my Kubota's but both are turbocharged and charge air cooled too. My diesel pickup also has no muffler and none of them are loud at all, they just whistle a bit. A naturally aspirated diesel is louder than any Hardley ever hoped to be.

I'll tell you how to cure the straight piped Hardley's, stuff a potato up the exhaust pipe and push it way up there with a stick. That will put a quick end to the noise because the engine won't start.