Audi
The Nio models with the names “es 6” and “es 8” cannot be sufficiently distinguished from the Audi models “S 6” and “S 8”.
(Photo: dpa)
The Chinese carmaker Nio has suffered a defeat in a legal dispute with the Volkswagen subsidiary Audi. The Munich I district court decided on Thursday in favor of the Ingolstadt car manufacturer. The dispute is about two Nio models, which the Chinese wanted to market under the names “es 6” and “es 8”, according to the court.
Audi saw this as a risk of confusion with its “S 6” and “S 8” brands. The court stated that there was a likelihood of confusion. Although the challenged design differs from Nio with the additional letter “E”, this does not ensure sufficient distinctiveness.
The verdict is not yet final, Nio can appeal.
Nio had announced entry into the German market in autumn. The company now calls the models ET7, EL7 and ET5. The cars are to be brought to customers with a subscription model.
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