BMW, Daimler may sue Chinese cloners

Kirby

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Der Spiegel Online


Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but sometimes it just goes too far. That, at least, is the opinion of the German carmakers who are considering suing their Chinese rivals for allegedly copying their designs.
The row was sparked by plans by the importer China Automobile Deutschland to present the Chinese cars CEO, UFO and Nobel -- which strongly resemble the BMW X5, Toyota RAV4 and the Smart Fortwo, respectively -- at next month's International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt. If the cars do appear at the show, then German car giants BMW and DaimlerChrysler may consider suing the Chinese manufacturers, according to a report in the German car industry magazine Automobilwoche.
"We have already launched measures to stop the distribution of the CEO in Europe," a BMW spokesman told the magazine. "If the vehicle is exhibited at the IAA we will examine taking legal measures."
Last autumn, DaimlerChrysler, which manufactures the Smart compact car, successfully sued a different Chinese company that also manufactured a copy of the tiny two-seater.
And BMW secured a legal warning against the distribution of the CEO in Italy. If the distributor goes ahead with the sale, BMW is expected to start formal legal proceedings.
The independent importer China Automobile Deutschland, which plans to distribute all three models, said it was unaware of the possible IAA ban.
"The debate could even prove useful because it puts our products on a level with BMW and Smart," said company manager Karl Schlössl. He wants to sell the car from October onwards through a network of up to 100 dealers.
The main organizer of the Sept. 13-23 IAA show, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), said it reserves the right to ban the models in question from the show. The association said that if intellectual property rights had been infringed it would be in breach of the exhibition's rules.
 
Tom

Tom

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LOL, very nice.

Lets see:
1) X5 Rear
2) KIA Sorento Front-End
3) 5-Series Headlights


Wonder what the interior looks like.
 
MrElussive

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I don't know if they have a case. I mean they do, but it would be like Logitech sueing Microsoft for making mice that resemble their mice.

Jeep sued HUMMER a couple years back for supposedly copying the Jeep trademark grille design, but lost.
 
Doughnut

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I agree with what like Mr. E said.
Car manufacturers are copying each other all the time, over here in Aussie, the motor brand "Kia" copy subarus impreza model.... Looks exactly the same to me.

ah, just another one of those things i spose.
 
Kirby

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BMW launches legal action against alleged Chinese copycat

FRANKFURT (AFP) — The German automaker BMW said Friday it had begun legal action against China Automobile Deutschland, which plans to exhibit a model at the Frankfurt auto show that BMW says is a copy of one of its cars.

"We have begun legal proceedings" against China Automobile, a BMW spokesman told AFP, partly confirming a report in the German magazine Automobilwoche.

The weekly said that BMW had filed a formal complaint, but the spokesman declined to provide further details on the affair.

The German group believes that the CEO model produced by the Chinese group Shuanghuan, which is to be presented at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt next week by China Automobile is a copy of the BMW X5 all terrain model which is no longer in production.

Another German automaker, DaimlerChrysler, has also accused Shuanghuan of copying Daimler's small city car Smart with the Nobel model that is also to be presented at the IAA fair, one of the biggest in the world.

"We continue to observe the situation and reserve the possibility of resorting to judicial proceedings if this car is presented at the show," a Daimler spokesman told AFP.

China Automobile did not appear worried by the comments however.

Its boss, Karl Schloss, told Automobilwoche he intended to show the CEO at the Frankfurt fair, which is open to the public from September 13-23.

"The car does not ressemble any BMW model," he insisted.
 
selavia

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Doughnut said:
"Would love to have promptly punched him in the face when that was said [:)]
Click to expand...

...Nah, let the judge do it; I'm sure it'll be more meaningful if a judge decides that this chinese company cannot produce this vehicle. All that money in setting up the vehicle, the plants to produce it, et cetera, and then forbidden from mainstream production. Big time losses. Hopefully it will serve as an example.

Was suit filed in Germany, China, USA, where? Does anyone know?
 
CosmosBlack

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I would be embarrassed to market such a copycat product,
I mean, how can anyone be proud to present that to the public, knowing it's copied all over from the competition??

NO SHAME!

And I wonder how much lead there is in the car, paint and all.....
 
B

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Sean I do not think they have filed yet I think they are writing the suit and will present it to the copycats. I would suspect if they do not get a favorable response they will file. I blieve they can win this as Chrysler is threatening as well and they sucessfully sued another Chinese automaker over the "Smart" car design and won! It appears to to me that there is an intellectual property rights issue.
 
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