So I haven’t touched on this in a while, simply because somehow, things got busy and I’ve found better things to do.
It’s okay, I’m as shocked as you are.
If you’re not one of my many adoring fans/friends and family/creepy internet stalkers who are on my Facebook friends list, I’ll fill you in on how I come to have a short scuffle with a motor company.
A while back now, Dave (friend and drinking buddy) sent me a picture over Twitter of a new Toyota vehicle they’re calling the “Rukus”:
At first, I thought “what a fucking stupid name for a car.” Then it clicked. That’s a fucking stupid name for anything. But damnit, That’s my fucking stupid name I’ve been using for all things internet since 2003.
Granted, Toyota was gracious enough to add an “s” on the end to avoid my knickers getting knotted further about the situation. I have a feeling that “Rukus” was meant to be pronounced “Ruckus”. which brings me to two further problems:
1) Whoever does the naming of cars at Toyota sucks at spelling
2) Would you really want to refer to your car as a “ruckus”?
Nevertheless, armed with nothing better to do, I sent off an email to Toyota:
To whom it may concern,
I have noticed recently that you have announced a vehicle you’ve named a “Rukus”. While I’m sure this is unintentional on your part, I have a concern that there will be confuson when it comes to online advertising, as I have been using ‘Ruku’ as my net handle since 2002-onwards.
Not to get all “I was here first”, but seriously, I totally was, and I have witnesses to prove it. So I’m sure you understand the situation here. If a name change isn’t feasible at this point, perhaps I could endorse the Rukus on my youTube channel on behalf of Toyota or something like that?
Thankyou for your time.
Naturally, being a big fancy motor company, you’d think they wouldn’t waste time on someone who clearly has way too much time on their hands. Having a night job does that to you. (in my defence, finished Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect within the same week. JUDGE NOT!)
You thought wrong. A few weeks after my initial email (at a point where I completely forgot about it), I got the following response:
Dear Mr Sheehan,
Thank for your recent email received by the Toyota Customer Experience Centre.
‘RUKUS’ is a registered trade mark owned by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, and used by Toyota Australia under an exclusive licence. Toyota Australia is comfortable with its rights to use this trade mark in Australia, and we are not infringing any intellectual property rights in doing so.
We also disagree that our use of the trade mark (primarily in relation to motor vehicles and relates products and services), will cause any confusion with your use of ‘Ruku’ in online advertising.
In relation to your request to endorse ‘RUKUS’ on your YouTube website, we do not permit third parties with no association with Toyota to use our trade marks as it undermines the significant investment TMCA and the Dealer network put into promoting and protecting the Toyota brand.
We thank you for your understanding.
Kind Regards,
[Name withheld]
Customer Experience Consultant
Fair call I suppose. I can’t see myself selling cars under the RukuCorp(tm) brand anytime soon, so I guess there won’t be any trouble from my end. Though, I feel rather shafted I apparently can’t plug the vehicle on my YouTube channel. Ripped off much?
Then I got a little concerned. what if something does come up which might infringe their copyright? Sure, let’s face it. I’ve been known as Ruku since 2003 and I have people who can vouch that. But they own the trademark.
I sent the following reply. If we’re going to be sharing online and meatspace together, may as well play nice:
[Name withheld],
Thankyou for your reply. Just had one more question in regards to th ‘Rukus’ trademark. Should I be worried of any backlash from Toyota if I start making money via my use of ‘Ruku’ online? Or is it different enough to not cause any problems? I’m assuming so long as I stick to just being a self-centred angry internet blogger and don’t get into car manufacturing, I’ll be okay, right?
Not long afterwards, I recieve the following:
Dear Luke,
Whilst we appreciate your concern, it is really up to you to ensure you don’t infringe Toyota’s trade mark rights, and regrettably, we are unable give you legal advice regarding this matter.
As a guide though, trade mark owners such as Toyota can prevent third parties from using trade marks that are similar to our registered trade marks, if the third party uses the similar trade mark for similar goods or services.
You can obtain more information on this from IP Australia’s website, please find this information listed below:
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/index.shtml.
In the instance you require any further information, we recommend that you obtain independent legal advice to ensure that you do not infringe.
Once again, thank you for contacting Toyota and giving us the opportunity to respond.
Kind Regards
[Name Withheld]
Customer Experience Consultant
So basically, they have full authority to shitcan me if I even dare using the name “Ruku” for “similar goods or services”.
Um, what? I’ve been calling my car the Rukumobile for months now, and it sure as hell doesn’t look like something that was designed on “Take your kids to work day”.
Seriously...
So basically, we’ve learnt from this that Toyota are just like any corporation: Arseholes. Thankfully. I think I’ll be getting my own back in the near future:
It's okay, Toyota. It's for a movie review site
