What's in a name? It's everything to some motor vehicle manufacturers. The latest episode of toil and trouble in the automotive industry surrounds the combination of 2 three-lettered vehicle names, the MKX (from Lincoln) and the MDX (from Acura).

Honda Motor Co. filed suit against Ford Motor Co. in federal court, claiming the acronym for the Lincoln vehicle, the MKX, carries consonance all too familiar to one of its own best-selling vehicles, an SUV known as the MDX. The main objective amidst this dispute is for the retention of intellectual property rights, as more and more manufacturers are moving to have letters as nomenclature for the models in vehicle lineups. "Our goal is to protect the Acura MDX name by ensuring that there's no consumer confusion between that and the new Lincoln MKX name," said Mike Spencer, a spokesman for Acura in Torrance, California.

The concept of lettering in names is nothing new, however. BMW, Nissan/Infiniti, and Volkswagen have had various abbreviations to denote specific car models. Less than a year ago, Nissan Motor Co. had filed a trademark infringement suit against Audi, claiming the letter "Q" as plundered from use in the Infiniti SUV lineup (the Q5 & Q7). Nissan had prior patent registration on slogans that included the distinguished use of the letter "Q" dating back to 1989. Terms in this prior case never made it to court; parties agreed on undisclosed terms.

Honda Motor Co. expects the case will not make it to court and a settlement will be reached. Meanwhile, Ford is still moving ahead on its plans to market and sell the MKX under the Lincoln brand later this year.