Chinese car maker under fire over designs

 

Trimmed by IPsoon Global Agency
Nov 19, 2007

 

 

Two car makers are considering taking legal action against the distributor of Chinese-made cars after accusing the manufacturer of copying their designs

 

 

A spokesman for Germany¡¯s BMW told MIP Week that the company is investigating whether to take legal action against China Automobile Ltd to stop the importation of a model of car called the CEO, made by Shuanghuan Automobile. BMW says that the CEO resembles its own BMW X5 model, which is no longer in production. The CEO has been on sale in China for the past two years but BMW has yet to take legal action there.

 

 

In November 2005 General Motors and its Korean subsidiary settled a lawsuit with Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile over the Chinese company's design of its Chery QQ model. GM had accused the Chinese company of copying key parts of its own Spark car. But some observers say that the US company had made itself vulnerable to copying by failing to apply for formal protection for its designs in China.

 

 

BMW¡¯s spokesman said that the GM dispute had led his company to believe that it would be difficult to secure a legal victory in China against Shuanghuan Automobile. "That case was very simple, but it still settled," he said.

 

 

Now the company is considering whether it can take action against the car¡¯s importer under either Germany¡¯s IP laws or its consumer protection laws. BMW argues that customers may be misled into believing that the CEO was made or designed by the German car maker.

 

 

Another car maker, DaimlerChrysler, is also considering taking legal action to try and prevent China Automobile Ltd from displaying Shuanghuan¡¯s Noble model at the IAA Frankfurt Auto Show. DaimlerChrysler claims that the design of the car is too similar to that of its own smart fortwo.

 

 

In an emailed statement, a spokesman for the company said that DaimlerChrysler had seen the Noble at the Auto Shanghai show and regarded it as a "blatant attempt" to copy the design of the smart fortwo, despite the fact that the car has two more seats and is a different size.

 

 

"We take intellectual property protection very seriously, and DaimlerChrysler works with relevant authorities to identify issues and enforce them," the statement said. "Offering a vehicle so obviously similar to the smart fortwo would be a violation of intellectual property. We reserve the right to pursue legal action ¨C also with regard to a possible exhibition of the car at the IAA."

 

In press reports, officials from Shuanghuan have insisted that the company¡¯s cars are not infringing.

 

 

IPsoon Global Agency comments:

Copying the foreign car design shows some chinese companies short-sight. So the foreigners should apply for a design patent in China and establish a patent management system to protect the design patent rights.