GM, DaimlerChrysler Battle Over Grille Design

General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler Corp. filed competing federal lawsuits 11 minutes apart over a grille design intended for a new GM Hummer. The Hummer H2 sport-utility vehicle is scheduled to be launched next year. DaimlerChrysler contends the grille is too similar to Jeep’s grille and will confuse consumers. GM, which acquired the brand name Hummer from AM General two years ago, said no one will confuse the H2 with a Jeep. The Jeep grille looks as though the seven slots have been punched through a sheet of metal. GM says its grille design is very wide and very short, with seven short vertical slots. In its lawsuit filed Tuesday in South Bend, Ind., the company said AM General received a trademark for the grille in 1996 and GM should be allowed to use it. In its lawsuit filed in Toledo, Ohio, DaimlerChrysler alleges trademark infringement, asks the court to block GM’s use of the grille and seeks unspecified damages.