The Harley vs Ridley Lawsuit.

The following is from the Ridley Motorcycle Company...



Ridley Motorcycle Company announced today that it had reached a settlement with Harley-Davidson in a lawsuit the manufacturing giant brought against Ridley over the trade name Auto-Glide in 2003.


As part of the settlement agreement, Ridley has agreed to discontinue use of the Auto-Glide name in any future models. The full terms of the settlement have not been disclosed as part of the settlement agreement.

The case was tried in the Eastern District of Wisconsin Federal Court in August 2007, but a verdict had not been announced before the suit was settled. Ridley introduced its automatic transmission Auto-Glide models in 2003 and remains the only U.S. motorcycle manufacturer to offer a fully automatic transmission.
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Harley Davidson's concern was that fact that Ridley was using the "Glide" name, which Harley uses for a large portion of their production. ie Wide Glide, Electra Glide. What makes me wonder is how Harley has been deemed the "owner" of the name "Glide" when GM has been using the name in their transmission series for years. It would be written across the back of the car. Hydro-Glide, and Power-Glide. Did GM sell the rights to the name?

klay