{"id":43656,"date":"2023-02-24T13:38:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T18:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=43656"},"modified":"2023-02-24T13:38:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T18:38:45","slug":"audis-ev-naming-lawsuit-against-nio-gets-shot-down-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=43656","title":{"rendered":"Audi\u2019s EV naming lawsuit against NIO gets shot down in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-border featured-image\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/02\/Audi-NIO-EV-naming.jpeg?quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/02\/Audi-NIO-EV-naming.jpeg?w=320&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/02\/Audi-NIO-EV-naming.jpeg?w=640&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/02\/Audi-NIO-EV-naming.jpeg?w=1024&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/02\/Audi-NIO-EV-naming.jpeg?w=1500&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 1500w\" width=\"1400\" height=\"700\" alt=\"Audi-NIO-EV-naming\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><br \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/guides\/audi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Audi<\/a>\u2019s attempt to block <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/guides\/nio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NIO<\/a> from using the names ES8 and ES6 in Europe just took a turn after the European Union Intellectual Property Office shot down the German automaker\u2019s request.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-284703\"\/><ins class=\"adsbygoogle author_ad ad-container adsbygoogle author_ad hide-lg author-in-content\" data-ad-host=\"ca-host-pub-5506057612223327\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9669137141129422\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<h2>Audi EV naming lawsuit against NIO rejected in Europe<\/h2>\n<p>After initially seeing Chinese EV maker NIO in 2021, to protect the integrity of its S6 and S8 model names at the European Patent Office, a <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/2023\/01\/19\/audi-takes-nio-to-court-and-wins-over-ev-naming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">german court sided with Audi<\/a> last month after a 15-month-long battle. <\/p>\n<p>The German court ruled that two of NIO\u2019s electric SUV models, the <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/guides\/nio-es6\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ES6<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/guides\/nio-es8\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ES8<\/a>, sounded too closely to Audi\u2019s existing S6 and S8 vehicle\u2019s names. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the judge explained that although NIO\u2019s names are different from Audi\u2019s, buyers may get confused, believing that the added E is just an \u201celectric\u201d Audi model, saying:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\" readability=\"8\">\n<p>There is a risk that consumers will assume that the \u201cES 6\u201d is the \u201cS 6\u201d in the electric version, that the two vehicles are from the same manufacturer. There is therefore a transfer danger of confusion through association that goes beyond pure association.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After launching its first EV in the region, the \u201cES7\u201d model, NIO renamed it to EL7 to avoid possible backlash. The NIO EVs mentioned in the naming lawsuit by Audi are not yet available in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling was not final, and NIO said at the time it would appeal the decision and defend its legal rights.<\/p>\n<p>Despite winning the battle in Germany, it seems Audi is losing the overall war in Europe after the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled this week that NIO\u2019s ES6 and ES8 models do not, in fact, constitute confusion, according to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/cnevpost.com\/2023\/02\/24\/audi-request-to-invalidate-nio-es8-es6-trademarks-rejected\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CnEVPost<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The latest ruling means NIO\u2019s ES8 and ES6 names will remain valid in Europe unless Audi overturns the EUIPO\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-electrek-s-take\">Electrek\u2019s Take<\/h2>\n<p>After the last court ruling, I said the EV naming lawsuit looks like a classic case of an established player picking on the new guy.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, they do sound familiar and could easily be confused, especially for those living in Europe who are used to seeing Audi\u2019s S6 and S8 models and knowing the brand is going all electric.<\/p>\n<p>NIO is quickly expanding its position in Europe with the launch of the EL7 and a growing number of Power Swap Stations. What do you think? Should NIO be forced to change its naming? Or is Audi just being a bully in its home court?<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-disclaimer-container\" readability=\"6.3518518518519\">\n<p class=\"disclaimer-affiliate\"><em>FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/about\/#affiliate\">More.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- post ad --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Audi\u2019s attempt to block NIO from using the names ES8 and ES6 in Europe just took a turn after the European Union Intellectual Property Office shot down the German automaker\u2019s request. Audi EV naming lawsuit against NIO rejected in Europe After initially seeing Chinese EV maker NIO in 2021, to protect the integrity of its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}