DC and BMW Threaten Legal Action over China Plagiarisms

DaimlerChrysler said it would consider unspecified legal action if tiny Chinese carmaker Shuanghuan Automobile showed the Noble, which it says closely resembles DaimlerChrysler's Smart Fortwo minicar, at next month's Frankfurt IAA, the Financial Times reported, quoting a spokesman from DaimlerChrysler.

BMW said it was considering legal action against the German importer of another Shuanghuan vehicle, the "CEO", which it claims closely resembles a previous version of its X5 sports utility vehicle that was discontinued in 2006, the paper said.

A Shuanghuan spokesman told Reuters by telephone from the company's headquarters in Shijiazhuang, in the northern province of Hebei, that he did not want to comment on the allegations.

But he said that both models were recognized as domestically developed vehicles by the Chinese government.

Shuanghuan's CEO has been sold in Southeast Asia, Italy and elsewhere, and several European dealers have expressed interest in the Noble minicar, he said, while declining to give sales figures.

The Chinese firm has not decided whether to attend the Frankfurt motor show, or whether to sell the Noble abroad, he added.

Visiting Beijing this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed for stronger protection of intellectual property rights.

"We take intellectual property protection very seriously," the Financial Times quoted the DaimlerChrysler spokesman as saying. "We decided to reserve the right to pursue legal action."

DaimlerChrysler, which following its sale of Chrysler is due to change its name to Daimler AG, has not elaborated on its legal plans, but the company is understood to have contacted Shuanghuan about the issue, the newspaper reported.

The German company last year succeeded in stopping another Chinese producer from bringing to market a different vehicle that closely resembled the Smart, the paper said.

Credits: nikolaiski