Audi sues NIO! It is better to take name insurance when you go out
Audi has filed a lawsuit in Munich court against NIO for infringing the trademark rights of two of its models, the ES6 and ES8, according to reports in German newspapers such as Handelsblatt and Reuters.
NIO Goes to Sea
It is understood that Audi S6 and Audi S8 are sedans, while NIO's ES6 and ES8 are SUVs. The connection between the two from the model and the name of the car is not significant, and the naming of NIO's two models will basically not produce incidents that mislead Audi's users! So is the real purpose of Audi's lawsuit against NIO for trademark infringement really the same as the news report, to defend its rights? The response from NIO on this matter is no comment (probably "emo").
NIO entered the Norwegian market last May and plans to launch new cars in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark by the end of this year. So it's always a bit surprising that Audi is suing NIO when it will enter the German (EU) market.
The main market body for NIO remains domestic at the moment, with NIO's insurance volume for May this year being 6,511 units, with four models under its belt, the NIO ET7 just delivered, and the ES7, the fifth model of NIO, just launched on June 15, and NIO has delivered a total of 204,936 new vehicles as of May 31 this year.
NIO's sales in Norway are essentially no more than 100 per month, with 2021 Norwegian car sales of 176,300 units, 64.5% of which are pure electric vehicles, accounting for about two-thirds of the total. The Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association says that the share of electric vehicles in new car sales in Norway is expected to reach 80% in 2022. So people judge that Audi is suing NIO to prevent it from entering Germany to seize the market, but this judgment seems untenable in terms of sales.
Audi S7
If the NIO ES7 enters the Euler market, will Audi sue NIO again on the grounds that the NIO ES7 infringes on the Audi S7 trademark?
It is important to know that German trademarks registered by merchants are only valid in Germany, while EU trademarks have the same validity in the entire EU (consisting of 27 member states). Currently, the EU consists of 27 member states, namely Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, and Slovakia.
So even if NIO wins, Audi has every reason to sue NIO once through another trademark protection law, so the best thing to do is to go out and make up more names.
