Ford, Ferrari settle lawsuit over F-150 name

Ford Motor Co has settled a lawsuit in which it accused Italian automaker Ferrari of infringing its trademark for the popular F-150 truck.

Ford dropped the case on Thursday, according to a filing with the U.S. district court in Detroit. Terms of the settlement were unclear from the filing.

We're obviously pleased that we were able to resolve this amicably, Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said.

In its lawsuit filed February 9, Ford had accused Ferrari of improperly using the name F150 for a new Formula 1 racing car.

Ford complained that Ferrari also used a logo that bore a striking resemblance to that on the Ford F-150, the top-selling vehicle in the United States.

A day after Ford filed the lawsuit, Ferrari said it would use only the full name of its vehicle, Ferrari F150th Italia, on the Formula 1 car.

Gattari said because the new name still contained F and 150, that change was not acceptable to us.

The Italian automaker Fiat SpA has an 85 percent stake in Ferrari.

The case is Ford Motor Co v. Ferrari SpA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-10518.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)