Cart Files Lawsuit

Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc. filed a lawsuit saying it is entitled to use the brand name “IndyCar”.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Michigan, is a response to a March 19 letter from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which said the Speedway is ending a 1992 licensing agreement concerning the IndyCar name.

The Speedway claims that it owns the IndyCar trademark as well as other racing trademarks with the word “Indy” in them. In the letter, Speedway officials gave CART 30 days to stop using the name IndyCar.

In a written statement, CART said it applied for trademark protection for the IndyCar name in 1991, prior to the licensing agreement with the Speedway. According to CART, the licensing agreement assigned trademark protection to the Speedway but CART “retained the exclusive right to use the IndyCar name and logo.”