The Piaggio Group continues its fight against counterfeiting, winning more than 50 opposition proceedings to safeguard the Vespa in the last two years
Mumbai: The Piaggio Group (PIA.MI) said that the invalidity division of European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has declared the Chinese design of its Vespa scooter as invalid.
A Chinese party, used to justify the production of scooters similar to the Vespa exhibited at the EICMA 2019 two-wheeler show in Milan, which were removed by the authorities of the Fiera exhibition centre after a complaint was lodged by Piaggio.
The EUIPO invalidity division annulled the registration since it was “incapable of eliciting a different general impression with respect to the registered design” of the Vespa Primavera, and pointed out that the registration was an unlawful attempt to reproduce the scooter’s aesthetic elements.
The Vespa Primavera is protected by the design registered by the Piaggio Group in 2013, by the three-dimensional trademark of the Vespa scooter and by the copyright that safeguards the artistic value of the shape of the Vespa, a style icon since 1946.
The invalidity proceedings are part of the wider activities against counterfeiting undertaken by the Piaggio Group for years. This includes continuous monitoring of the databases of internationally registered designs and trademarks, which, as a result of the opposition proceedings initiated by Piaggio, has led to the cancellation of more than 50 trademarks registered by third parties in the last two years.
