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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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011689
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01168900.005
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1990-09-17
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BUSINESS, Page 47Business NotesNEW PRODUCTSOops, That Name's Taken
When Toyota unveiled its sleek new line of luxury cars last
week at auto shows in Detroit and Los Angeles, nervous company
officials stood by with rolls of tape. Their task: to cover up the
new product's name, Lexus, if a three-judge appellate panel in New
York City barred Toyota from using it. Not until the judges
permitted the name to be used, at least through Jan. 30, did the
Toyota employees return to wholehearted sales pitches for the
stylish car, which will compete in the $20,000-to-$40,000 price
range.
The ruling was the latest turn in a dispute between Toyota and
Ohio-based Mead Data Central, which since 1973 has offered a
computerized legal-information service called Lexis. In December
a federal judge in Manhattan upheld Mead's complaint that Lexus
infringed on the Lexis trademark, and ordered Toyota to drop the
name or pay Mead unspecified damages.
Toyota said it will be forced to replace the Lexus name unless
the dispute is favorably resolved within 60 days. The Lexus is
scheduled to roll into showrooms in September, so any further delay
could prevent the new line from being launched at the start of the
1990 model-year.