Background On Name Choice
The Fusion was originally to be called the Futura, which was last used in North America as a name applied to the Fairmont model line ("Fairmont Futura"). Ford, however, lost a trademark lawsuit to the Pep Boys auto parts store, which has a line of tires under the Futura brand. American trademark law generally considers a name abandoned if the owner does not use it for three calendar years and the long history of the name in the Ford line did not impress the court.
The Futura name was originally introduced as a Lincoln concept car in 1955. The Lincoln Futura later was converted to the Batmobile for the television series Batman (1966–1968). In 1961, it was first used as the designation of an upper trim level on Falcons which continued through 1970, and then on a 2-door coupe and eventually also 4-door versions of the Ford Fairmont from 1978 to 1983. The name was also used by Ford Australia as a trim line for the Falcon until the release of FG (MY 2009). Pep Boys does not operate in Australia, thus there was no conflict of trademark in that country.
Read more about this topic: Ford Fusion (Americas)
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