Chrysler Sues Pure Detroit Over Slogan

William Maley - Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

March 16, 2011

Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" slogan has brought them a lot good press and fanfare. Since then, Chrysler has brought out a line of clothing and trademarked the slogan. That turned out to be a wise idea since a company called Pure Detroit has used the "Imported from Detroit" on a line of clothing and claims to be the exclusive provider. Last night, Chrysler filed a lawsuit against Pure Detroit saying they used the slogan improperly.

Chrysler said in their filing, they tried to work it out with Pure Detroit.

"Chrysler has repeatedly attempted to resolve this matter without involving the court. It has repeatedly asked (Pure Detroit) to stop, and has sought to have a portion of (Pure Detroit's)' ill-gotten gains contributed to charity."

Pure Detroit refused and leaving Chrysler with no choice but to take it to the courts.

"No one likes a legal solution to be an issue. It could look like David v Goliath in the Chrysler lawsuit against Pure Detroit. However, we do know that we made repeated attempts to work out a non-legal solution with Pure Detroit. While we are all for entrepreneurs and free enterprise, there are legal considerations we must consider to protect that hard work that went into the Born of Fire commercial. We also want to protect the four charities who benefit from the sale of our Imported from Detroit merchandise. No one wants to get into a court battle. However, when all other reasonable, good faith efforts fail, there are few options," said Mike Driehorst, editorial director for online media for Chrysler in response to the lawsuit.

A spokesman for Pure Detroit said the company has no comment.

Source: The Detroit News

Pure Detroit should have trademarked that.

I like how their logo is a ripoff of the Chrysler badge with a fist covering the middle. Very original. I'm surprised Chrysler hasn't gone after them for that too.

I like how their logo is a ripoff of the Chrysler badge with a fist covering the middle. Very original. I'm surprised Chrysler hasn't gone after them for that too.

That is Chrysler's logo. It's a new one they unveiled this past week

Pure Detroit should have trademarked that.

I don't think they would of had the chance.

Chrysler said it applied for a trademark for the use of the "Imported from Detroit" phrase on Nov. 23 in automotive vehicles. It separately applied to register "Imported from Detroit" for clothing, as well as other goods on Jan. 18.

After the Super Bowl on Feb. 6, Chrysler filed for a third trademark on Feb. 8 over a wide variety of additional goods, as well as retail store services.

I like how their logo is a ripoff of the Chrysler badge with a fist covering the middle. Very original. I'm surprised Chrysler hasn't gone after them for that too.

That is Chrysler's logo. It's a new one they unveiled this past week

Oh really? Missed that bit of news.

Oh really? Missed that bit of news.

Yeah, they showed it off Monday - http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/14/report-chrysler-updates-imported-from-detroit-logo/

I like how their logo is a ripoff of the Chrysler badge with a fist covering the middle. Very original. I'm surprised Chrysler hasn't gone after them for that too.

That is Chrysler's logo. It's a new one they unveiled this past week

Klassy. I bet Josh Oliver already got a tattoo of that one.

Interesting.