It seems some, maybe all Jaguar replica models are temporary on hold from TrueScale Miniatures and related brands. The posting this evening from TrueScale Miniatures Facebook page is confirmation. We can look on the bright side, they can focus on other brands, and many other overdue projects.
“Dear Collectors,
We recently announced the production of several Jaguar Formula E models in 1:18 and 1:43 scale. It has come to our attention that there are some potential issues with the licensing rights for these models that are not 100% clear at this time.
We take the licensing of our models quite seriously and want to avoid any issues that could potentially arise from this, so we have decided to temporarily put these projects on hold while we work with Jaguar to determine how we can best move forward.
We do apologize for any inconvenience caused by this delay and will keep you closely updated as we move forward. Thank you for your kind understanding.
Sincerely,
TSM-Model Team”
As posted in the forum, this is unlikely to be a problem with Jaguar and probably relates to the fact that Jaguar don’t own the design of the Formula E car. Other TSM/Top Speed Jaguars are almost certainly not affected.
Who cares about formula E anyway?
A German court once ruled that making a model car does not require any licence from the real vehicle´s manufacturer. A car manufacturer´s trademark rights only cover real cars and do not extend to models of the vehicle. Opel´s law suit against a toy manufacturer was dismissed by the court. I wonder why model makers still seek expensive licences. To my knowledge, CMC have made their 250 GTOs (DS´s Model of the Year 2015 winner!) without licence from Ferrari. A disclaimer on the box reads: “The use of manufacturers´ names, symbols, type designations, and/or descriptions is solely for reference purposes. It does not imply that the CMC scale model is a product of any of these manufacturers”. A similar disclaimer follows for racing teams and drivers: ” The use of racing team and/or driver names, symbols, starting numbers, and/or descriptions is solely for reference purposes. Unless otherwise stated, it does not imply that the CMC scale model is a product of any of these racing teams/drivers or endorsed by any of them.” Interesting that CMC can do this and TSM feel they can´t.
Do you have a link to that case, and are you sure it hasn’t been overturned? It’s well known that, for instance, Ferrari have exclusive licences with certain manufacturers. My understanding was that if a car was over a certain age (25 years?), its manufacturer couldn’t claim legal ownership of the shape any more, and that it relates to copyright rather than trademark. The disclaimers on the CMC GTO are just a clarification that it isn’t an official product, but would not allow anyone to do the same with a F12 tdf because copyright would apply.
The issue with the Jaguar FE cars may relate to Formula E licensing their models to Greenlight: http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/october/greenlight-to-produce-118-scale-fia-formula-e-die-cast/ Licensing for race cars is considerably more complicated than for road cars as there can be many parties involved – with FE, that would include the organisers, the chassis manufacturer, the teams, the drivers, the sponsors, etc. and any of those could, in theory, cause a problem with licensing.
In any case, the story above exaggerates the facts because TSM/Top Speed have been very specific about which models are affected, and it is not Jaguars in general – the car in question isn’t a Jaguar anyway.
I preordered a topspeed orange F-type back when it said it was shipping 10/31/16, I hope I don’t wait till their new date of 3/15/17 for nothing..
i assume the licensing issue was resolved as i have seen the TopSpeed I-Type Formula E Jaguar for sale recently (it’s old stock).
I gather TSM and TopSpeed are the same company? The seller of the Formula E jaguar says the model is diecast metal. Did TSM/TopSpeed once make cars of diecast metal or have the always been resin and the seller is mistaken?