According to reports, Audi won the initial trial of the trademark infringement case against NIO, but due to NIO’s dissatisfaction with the first instance verdict and its appeal, the European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled in favor of NIO in the second instance, stating that NIO’s ES8/ES6 and Audi’s S8/S6 do not constitute confusion or similarity.
Previously, Audi had filed a trademark invalidation procedure against NIO’s ES8 and ES6 registered in the European Union, claiming that the similarity between NIO’s ES6/ES8 model names and its own S6/S8 under its company’s trademark rights caused infringement and could have a negative impact on Audi’s company. Therefore, Audi sued NIO in October 2021.
On January 19, the Munich District Court conducted the first trial of the trademark infringement case brought by Audi against NIO. The court supported Audi’s views and held that the additional letter “e” was enough to make consumers believe that NIO’s ES6/ES8 models and the electric versions of Audi’s S6/S8 were mentally related, which infringed on Audi’s trademark rights. As a result, Audi won the trial in the first instance.
Regarding the first instance judgement, NIO expressed regret and strong opposition, and immediately filed an appeal. The European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled on the Audi-NIO trademark dispute, rejecting all claims by the European Intellectual Property Office and overturning the first instance judgement against Audi, resulting in NIO’s victory.
It is understood that the European Intellectual Property Office believes that NIO’s ES8/ES6 and Audi’s S8/S6 do not constitute a likelihood of confusion and therefore rejected Audi’s request.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.