ChinaAutoInfo

On December 5th, information published on the Australian JADE website shows that the Australian Intellectual Property Office made a decision on November 28th, local time, to support NIO's core claims, rejecting Audi's objections to NIO's trademark application for "ES6, ES7, ES8" and allowing NIO's trademark application to continue registration in Australia.

The Australian Intellectual Property Office determined that overall comparison of Audi and NIO trademarks shows significant differences and does not constitute substantial similarity.

In the decision, the Australian Intellectual Property Office stated that the initial letter "E" in NIO's trademark forms a significant distinguishing point, and consumers are unlikely to overlook this element. Even though "E" represents electric, the "S" and numbers in Audi's series trademarks do not have a clear direction.

Furthermore, regarding other contentious points such as whether NIO's trademark use constitutes free-riding and confusion, whether NIO's trademark violates the Consumer Law or constitutes unfair competition, and whether NIO's trademark is misleading, the Australian Intellectual Property Office supported NIO's views and rejected Audi's claims.

As early as October 2021, Audi claimed that NIO's naming of two models as ES6 and ES8 infringed on Audi's trademark rights for S6 and S8 and sued NIO in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, Germany.

According to previous IThome reports, on January 20, 2023, the first-instance result of the Audi and NIO trademark lawsuit was announced, with Audi winning. On April 11, 2024, the Munich Higher Regional Court ruled in the second instance that the naming of NIO's two models infringed on Audi's trademark rights.

Theoretically, NIO can still appeal to the German Federal Court for a third trial. However, NIO has already renamed its ES series to EL series in Europe as of October 2022, and actual sales operations are not affected.