Opinion ID: 2816581
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Plaintiff’s BMF Line

Text: Plaintiff CFE Racing Products is a company founded in 1983 by Carl Foltz to manufacture and sell high-end cylinder heads in the automotive parts “aftermarket.”1 Initially, Plaintiff sold exclusively to professional racers under the brand name “CFE.” Plaintiff eventually expanded its business to include a new “BMF” line of cylinder heads targeted to the consumer market. The choice of “BMF” was apparently inspired by a wallet bearing a certain indelicate phrase of those initials that was featured in the movie Pulp Fiction. Foltz and employees in his shop would use the shorthand “BMF” to describe cylinder heads that had a particularly impressive flow. Over the years, people frequently asked him what “BMF” stood for, putting forward hypotheses like “[b]ig monster flow,” “big massive” flow, and “by Mr. Foltz.” (R. 107, Foltz Tr. Testimony, PageID 2245.). When Plaintiff launched the BMF line, it hired a company in Florida to design the logo, with instructions to create a logo similar in appearance to its existing CFE logo. The result was a simple setting of the three capitalized letters in a bold, san-serif font, italicized to evoke speed. In color print, the logo uses a color scheme of black, red and white—the letters themselves are black, with red and white outlines around each letter. In several iterations of the logo, “Racing Heads” is set in smaller typeface immediately under “BMF.” Plaintiff’s first use of the new BMF logo was in a November 2003 advertisement. The company has used the logo in essentially the same form from November 1, 2003 until the present. Plaintiff applied for a trademark registration for the letters “BMF,” without any specification as to font, style, size, or color, in March 2005. The trademark was registered on January 23, 2007. 1 “Aftermarket” refers to the sale of vehicle parts for installation and use on a car that has already been fully manufactured and sold by its manufacturer. Nos. 14-1357/1608/1939 CFE Racing Products v. BMF Wheels, et al. Page 5 The record contains anecdotal evidence of brand recognition for Plaintiff’s BMF logo. BMF decals are popular with the company’s customers. Plaintiff has used BMF logos on banners for race sponsorships, trade shows, and other events since 2006—these banners proved so popular that more than once they were appropriated by enthusiastic members of the audience following the race. As of trial, Plaintiff’s BMF line included cylinder heads, valve covers, and apparel bearing the BMF logo. Foltz testified that the company had plans for expansion: they wanted to “fill in” the product line of cylinder heads, and they were in discussions with potential manufacturers to develop lubricants and mufflers that would carry the BMF brand. Plaintiff’s sales, however, were declining rather than expanding. After reaching a high of $600,000 in annual revenue before the recession, total sales for the BMF line dropped to approximately $80,000 in 2012 (the last full year before the trial). Foltz attributed some of the tail end of the decline to his decision to pull BMF advertising after discovering Defendants’ BMF brand in 2011.