Piaggio, the Italian company that makes the world-famous Vespa scooter, said Monday that it had won a legal case against a Chinese copycat design.
“A design registered by a Chinese party […] [has] been declared invalid by the invalidity division of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO),” Piaggio said in a statement.
The Chinese design was presented at last year’s edition of Milan’s motorcycle fair EICMA, and removed after a complaint from Piaggio, the company said.
In its decision, EUIPO found that the Chinese design “closely reproduces features” of the original Vespa Primavera model and “lacks individual character.”
Therefore it “must be invalidated,” the EU body said.
The Chinese design was registered in the name of Chen Huang, the EUIPO decision showed.
Piaggio said the EUIPO case was part of its “wider activities against counterfeiting,” which have “led to the cancellation of more than 50 trademarks registered by third parties in the last two years.” (dpa/NAN)
