Strange happenings are afoot at DMC with patent filing, Taliban request in same week
TEXAS-BASED DeLorean Motor Company, whose DMC-12 was made famous by the Back to the Future movie franchise, has filed a new trademark application with the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week.
The application comes at the same time as Ty DeLorean, the self-proclaimed illegitimate son of DMC founder, John DeLorean, says he was approached by the Taliban to purchase his repainted Reliant “DMC-21” three-wheelers – replete with gull-wing doors – for its government officials.
You just can’t make this stuff up!
The real DeLorean Motor Company, who has distanced itself from Ty DeLorean, filed trademark applications for both a new, stylised version of the DMC logo and another V-shaped motif that is said to resemble the DMC-12’s (and the DMC-21’s) famed gull-wing doors.
Both trademarks were filed for automobiles, dealerships and a variety of goods, the USPTO says. In January 2021, the (US) National Highway Transportation and Safety Authority (NHTSA) issued a ruling that enabled the Texas-based company to commence low-volume vehicle manufacturing.
In the meantime, the DeLorean Motor Company has begun construction on a new website which GoAuto believes has legitimate associations with the Texan outfit, and not Mr Ty DeLorean’s UK-based operation. The latter has been sued by the former for trademark infringements (the original DMC logo appeared on his Reliant-based three-wheeler’s ‘wheel, bonnet and rear-end).
According to UK publication CornwallLive, Mr Ty DeLorean has received an email offer from the Taliban to produce his Reliants initially for its officials, and later “for use on rural roads”.
The unverified email, which was published by CornwallLive, reads in part:
The Civil Aviation of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan extends its compliments to you and your brilliant motor vehicle at DeLorean Motor Company.
Your amazing achievements were brought to my attention in your latest media interviews, which has gone around the world and landed on my desk in a local newspaper.
Mr Ty DeLorean told CornwallLive that while he did not support the Taliban or its actions, he hoped his repurposed gull-wing Reliants could help bring about change to the region.
“In my ambition, which is sometimes bigger than reality, I’d like to see the vehicle as a peace symbol if you like, like my father’s was. It could be used to negotiate with the Taliban and help get them to start dropping some of their hard-line stances and, if they were to do that, maybe I could. Like a new beginning in the Middle East peace negotiations,” he is alleged to have said.
The DeLorean story has never exactly been an easy one. DMC founder John DeLorean has been referred to as a “malignant narcissist” by some who worked for him. The troubled company built only 9000 examples of its famous two-seat coupe between 1981 and 1983.
Known for its excessive price tag and dismal performance, the DMC-12 also had a lesser-known connections with Lotus’ Colin Chapman and Italdesign’s Giorgetto Giugiaro (as well as Marty McFly and Dr Emmett Brown, of course).
Let’s hope its latest comeback isn’t tainted by Afghanistan’s ruling party.
Keyword: DeLorean files new DMC trademark