Shelby Reloads The Shotgun and Fires Back at SAAC

February 4th, 2008 by CobraMatt

It’s been a rough couple of months for the SAAC and thier co-founders Ken Eber and Rick Kopec who saw thier 33 year old beloved Shelby Car Club’s license terminted last year only to be met with a new lawsuit a few days ago by Carroll Shelby Licensing.  CSL Inc. filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles superior court on January 29th against the SAAC for Breach of Contract and Preliminary and Permanent Injunction against the SAAC which is owned by Eber and Kopec.  Basically the lawsuit is to try and put an end to the SAAC and the unauthorized use of Shelby’s trademarks along with them returning all information, documents, statistics and memorabilia to Shelby. 

According to the lawsuit the SAAC has made repeated claims that they do not recognize the termination of the license and will not dismantle the SAAC therefore giving CSL Inc. no choice but to go forward with the latest lawsuit.  In lieu of the new lawsuit this may finally put an end to the SAAC and thier 33 year history, at least officially.  I am sure the SAAC will live on forever under a new name without using the Shelby trademark.

For full details check out the press release after the jump.

Press Release: 

Gardena, Calif. – January 31, 2008 – Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc., (CSL) and Carroll Hall Shelby Trust (Shelby Trust) filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on January 29, 2008, against the organization formerly known as the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC), which is owned and operated by Ken Eber and Rick Kopec. In the lawsuit, CSL and the Shelby Trust filed for Declaratory Relief, Breach of Contract and Preliminary and Permanent Injunction against the organization owned by Eber and Kopec.

As outlined in a news release dated December 7, 2007, CSL announced that it had determined not to renew its written license agreement with the organization then known as SAAC. That decision was based, among other business considerations, on a continued disregard for the license agreement requirements. The annual, year-to-year agreement was personally signed by Eber and Kopec on behalf of their club in 1999.

In light of the organization’s repeated claims that it did not recognize, and even had no intention of recognizing the termination of the licensing agreement and that it planned to continue the unauthorized use of trademarks owned by the Shelby Trust and licensed exclusively by CSL, officials with the Shelby Trust and CSL had no other recourse than to file suit. In their filing, CSL and the Shelby Trust seek a declaration from the court that will compel the enforcement of the terms of the licensing agreement both before and after its termination.