Mercedes tries to burst Shuanghuan's tiny Bubble, gives up
 

Filed under: Coupes, Economy, China, Euro, Government/Legal, Hatchbacks, BMW, Mercedes-Benz

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Mercedes decided to sue Shuanghuan Automotive for copyright infringement for its Bubble microcar (called the Noble in China), claiming it was a copy of the smart fortwo. BMW then decided to bring its own case against Shuanghuan, citing the Shuanghuan CEO as a blatant facsimile of the BMW X5 (that's the CEO on the wall in the above picture). Mercedes got the Bubble banned from display at a couple of auto shows, BMW won its copyright infringement lawsuit in Munich, and Mercedes sued the Bubble's importer, Martin Motors of Italy, to block sales of the car.

It was all looking good... until BMW lost its case in courts in Munich and in China. The Italian court ruled that "consumers could not get confused" when similar vehicles are offered "with a significant price difference." With BMW cold knocked out in the Copyright Cage Match, Mercedes has been left alone in the octagon with Shuanghuan bearing down on it. It also hasn't helped that Italian commentators have already said they don't think the two cars will be confused.

Now Mercedes is looking for an exit. Martin Motors countersued Mercedes for €100,000,000 - around $134.2 million USD - citing potential lost Bubble sales (that's a lotta Bubbles), and Mercedes doesn't want to lose its case and have to fork over colossal damages. Both sides expect the case to be resolved in a couple of weeks, and Bubbles are expected to go on sale this summer.

[Source: Motor Authority]Mercedes tries to burst Shuanghuan's tiny Bubble, gives up originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Autoblog
01-06-2009 11:59 AM

What would the Chinese do if they had to design their own products?

I did a test with my cousins a few weeks ago. I didn't say anything I just loaded a few pictures of the CEO and said "What kind of car is this?" All 3 said it was a BMW X5...I then went to explain what it really was.


Anyone else get the feeling that someone int he court system is going to be lining their pockets with profits from the sales Shuanghuan vehicles?

Let's see what the Italian courts say when China rolls out a Ferrari knockoff! The "Fallali"!

I'll bet those bubbles burst very nicely when smashed between two Fiat Pandas...

That's great! Or what about the new Chinese Maselatti?