MAN files suit against local firm
By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-20 08:44
German commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN AG, Europe's third-largest truck
maker, yesterday announced that it had filed a lawsuit for design patent
infringement and damages against Chinese industrial and automotive group
Zonda.
"The Zonda A9 is a copy of the Starliner, a coach developed by
Neoplan Bus GmbH, a subsidiary of MAN AG," the German company said in a
statement.
The Neoplan Starliner coach was launched at the International
Automobile Show in Germany in September 2004, but has so far not been sold in
China, said the German company.
"The unique design of the Starliner is
protected by international patents and is protected in China by a registered
design patent," said the statement.
In its complaint, the German company
requested the court order the defendants to cease manufacturing and selling the
Zonda A9 and pay appropriate monetary damages and costs normally granted in such
cases internationally.
This action is part of the company's continuous
efforts to protect its intellectual property rights worldwide, it said in the
statement.
The lawsuit has been accepted and is now being handled by the
Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court.
MAN said the case has received
support from third-party advocates including the German Embassy in China, the
German Chamber of Commerce in Beijing and Chinese company Jinhua
Neoplan-Youngman.
The past several years have seen a sharp increase in
IPR disputes in China's automobile industry between domestic and foreign
manufacturers. At the end of 2002, Japanese automaker Toyota filed a lawsuit in
Beijing against Geely, a fast-growing domestic automobile manufacturer based in
East China's Zhejiang Province, for trademark infringement and unfair
competition.
In the case, the first in China's automobile industry after
the nation entered the World Trade Organization, Toyota asked for a total of 14
million yuan (US$1.77 million) in damages, calculating the amount by charging 1
per cent for each of the over 20,000 cars sold. In addition, Toyota also
petitioned to be recognized as a "well-known trademark." But the court did not
support any of Toyota's claims.
And in June 2003, GM claimed that Chinese
firm Chery's QQ model was a copy of its Spark, a model manufactured by GM's
South Korean subsidiary GM Daewoo. Chery maintained that there had been no
infringement, and said it had obtained 24 patents for the QQ.
GM Daewoo
later took legal action against Chery. In December 2004, GM initiated a series
of invalidation actions against Chery's design patents. And in May 2005, GM
Daewoo filed an unfair competition lawsuit against Chery in Beijing.
This
high-profile dispute was solved in November 2005, when the parties reached a
settlement and all the claims were withdrawn. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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