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Old 10-19-2006, 03:02 PM   #1
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Default German MAN manufacturer sues Chinese Firm "Zongda" over lookalike Bus

German MAN manufacturer sues Chinese Firm "Zongda" over lookalike Bus

http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?...753&fSetId=381

Quote:
MAN sues Chinese firm over lookalike bus

Beijing, China - A unit of German vehicle giant MAN is sueing a Chinese company for copying a bus design in what it called a "landmark stand for intellectual property" in China.

MAN's bus-making subsidiary Neoplan Bus claims the Zongda group illegally copied the patented external design of its Starliner bus.

MAN Truck and Bus vice-president Franz Neundlinger said the copying was "crystal clear", showing pictures of two strikingly similar buses - one the German company's, one Zongda's A9.

He said the A9 was "an entire design copy of one of our leading coaches", adding that the case was intended to pressure the Chinese government a to crack down on illegal copying of copyrighted designs - a widespread complaint of foreign companies

"A decision not in MAN's favour will most certainly have a negative impact on the value and meaning of intellectual property rights in China," the company said.

A Beijing court took the case in September 2006 but MAN executives said there had been no response from Zongda, whose staff declined to discuss the matter when called by Reuters. A member of its legal department who gave his surname as Pan denied any knowledge of the case.

He said: "If they really have sued us, we'll certainly respond."

MAN executives said the Chinese company may have already sold hundreds of A9 buses for about a third of the usual price of a Starliner, which costs about €350 000 (about R3.3-million).

The Starliner design is not made in China but Neundlinger said pictures of it were shown at an auto show in China in 2005.

He said: "We really don't know how they did it; it seems to us they copied from pictures."
You Decide:

MAN Starliner Bus



vs.

Zongda A9 Bus

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