General Motors and its Cruise robo-taxi subsidiary reportedly have filed a lawsuit to stop Ford from using the name BlueCruise to market its hands-free driving technology.

In a statement cited by Reuters, GM said Ford use of the BlueCruise name infringed on GM’s Super Cruise trademark, as well as Cruise’s trademark.

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“While GM had hoped to resolve the trademark infringement matter with Ford amicably, we were left with no choice but to vigorously defend our brands and protect the equity our products and technology have earned over several years in the market,” GM said in the statement.

GM also said the automakers had held “protracted discussions” over the matter but failed to resolve the dispute.

Reuters said GM was claiming trademark infringement and unfair competition in the lawsuit and had asked the court for an order to prohibit Ford from using the BlueCruise name plus unspecified damages.

Ford called the lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, “meritless and frivolous”.

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“Drivers for decades have understood what cruise control is, every automaker offers it, and ‘cruise’ is common shorthand for the capability,” Ford said in a statement cited by Reuters. “That’s why BlueCruise was chosen as the name for the Blue Oval’s next evolution of Ford’s intelligent adaptive cruise control.”

Reuters noted GM announced in 2012 it would use the name Super Cruise for its hands-free driver assistance technology, and has been marketing the technology using that name since 2017.

Last week it said it would introduce new Super Cruise capability on six model year 2022 vehicles in the first quarter of 2022.

GM’s majority-owned Cruise self-driving vehicle unit has been operating since 2013, Reuters added.

Ford last April announced it would use the BlueCruise name for its hands-free driving.