Audi’s lawsuit against NIO names dismissed by European Office

A few weeks ago we told you about the new NIO electric car available in Europe, the EL7. However, a different name from the usual range of the Chinese manufacturer, and necessarily chosen for the open dispute with Audiwho accused her of using names that are too similar to hers, thus confusing customers.

A German court had agreed with Audi, stating that the names ES6 or ES8 (or the suspended ES7) they could look too similar to those Audi S6 and S8with the only addition of the E which could be interpreted as an electric version.

But in recent days the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has determined that the names ES6 and ES8 of NIO are not confusing, and therefore rejected Audi’s request. The EUIPO probably based the decision on the starkly different Audi and NIO logos, which would make it very difficult to mistake one model for the other, despite similar names.

At this point NIO names ES6 and ES8 will remain valid in Europe, with the cars still to arrive in our market, unless Audi decides to appeal against the decision of the EUIPO. However, it is not clear what will happen in Germany, where there is already a court ruling in favor of the German manufacturer. We are sure that this is not the last installment of the story.