A German court has granted new Chinese carmaker Qoros a preliminary injunction against Kia, to the effect that the Korean company now cannot use the Quoris name for its upcoming RWD flagship sedan in the European Union.
Introduced in Korea as the Kia K9 in May, the name Quoris was chosen for the car’s export markets in July. The court determined that Qoros and Quoris were too similar-sounding and could cause confusion among consumers.
It’s just the EU for now, but Qoros states that it will continue legal efforts to protect its trademark in other territories. The preliminary injunction is currently served upon Kia in Korea and still can be appealed by Kia.
Established in 2007, Qoros is the result of a 50:50 partnership between Chery and global industrial holding company Israel Corporation. It will debut a a compact C-segment sedan at the next Geneva motor show in March, with first sales in China scheduled for the end of 2013 and Europe by early 2014.
KIA K9
TURBOII030
观致汽车打赢名号阻击战 2013车展展新车
新闻晨报11月28日报道 今年下半年以来，奇瑞汽车动作不断，继成功携手广汽和捷豹、路虎后，奇瑞在国际市场上顺利阻击起亚，为其国际品牌进入欧洲市场扫清障碍。昨天，中国观致汽车透露，已获得法院支持，迫使起亚K9车型在欧洲市场放弃使用Quoris名称。根据欧盟法律，该临时禁令裁决韩国的汽车制造商——起亚汽车公司不能在其汽车上使用“QUORIS”，该临时禁令在整个欧盟地区有效。
今年5月起亚在韩国发布了K9大型车，海外名称为Quoris。中国奇瑞汽车和美国以色列集团合资子公司观致的英文名为Qoros，与Quoris在拼写上接近。由于观致将欧洲市场作为重点目标，为了避免混淆，观致向法院上诉，要求起亚放弃在欧洲使用Quoris名称的权利。法院近日发布临时禁令，裁决认为，若“QUORIS”和“QOROS”同时出现在汽车市场，将会给消费者带来混淆。观致汽车副董事长石清仁先生认为德国法院的这一裁决体现了欧盟司法的公正。他说，“观致汽车捍卫品牌的第一步取得了成功。观致汽车目前正全力准备在2013年日内瓦及上海车展正式向公众首次展出其新车”。