No one could have imagined that NIO's ES6, ES8 and other car names would be related to Audi in Germany.
Recently, Audi has made the latest progress in the case of trademark infringement of NIO's car models, and NIO has formally appealed to the Munich Higher Regional Court, and will then provide various materials to respond in accordance with the legal procedures stipulated in the German Procedural Law.
It was previously reported that Audi sued NIO for infringing Audi's trademark rights, on the grounds that the naming of NIO's ES6 and ES8 models infringed the trademark rights of Audi S6 and S8.
The result of the lawsuit in the first instance was in favor of Audi. According to the preliminary review, NIO will be prohibited from selling products under the names of ES6 and ES8 models in Germany. In addition, NIO will also face a fine of 250,000 euros (about 1.84 million yuan) and other punitive measures.
With NIO's appeal of the preliminary trial results, Zhang Hui, vice president of NIO Europe, said in an interview, "We believe that this judgment is wrong. ”
"From the consumer's point of view, everyone who buys a car will know in advance about the model they want to buy through the Internet, brochures and articles in magazines. When people want an Audi S-Series sedan, no one will randomly choose a NIO SUV, and vice versa. We do not believe that NIO has infringed on Audi's trademark rights and would like to clarify this issue in principle. ”
However, Audi's infringement lawsuit does not affect the pace of NIO's expansion in Germany, and even NIO is more widely known in Germany because of this lawsuit.
