General Court—no infringement of IP rights in Vespa scooter and Zhejiang scooter design is valid (Piaggio & C. v EUIPO)

Table of contents

• What was the background?
• What did the General Court decide?
• Case details

Article summary

IP analysis: The General Court has dismissed an appeal relating to an invalidity action in respect of a registered Community design for a Chinese scooter finding that the Zhejiang scooter and the iconic Vespa LX scooter produce different overall impressions and that the Zhejiang scooter has individual character. The court also found that trade mark infringement had not been established—the Zhejiang scooter had not made use of the unregistered three dimensional mark relating to the Vespa LX scooter and due to the different impressions of the two scooters, there is no likelihood of confusion on the part of the relevant public. The court also confirmed the EUIPO’s analysis on the infringement of Piaggio’s copyright in the Vespa LX scooter, in Italy and France, finding that there had been no unauthorised use.