🚗💼 Legal Update: Trademark Dispute TRF-2 Denies Embargoes in Trademark Ownership Dispute Between Volkswagen and GWM Published on May 23, 2024
The 1st Specialized Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region (TRF-2) has ruled against Volkswagen in its ongoing legal battle with Chinese automaker GWM over the trademark rights to certain industrial designs. The dispute originated in August 2022, when Volkswagen filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro, alleging that GWM’s designs for an electric car, informally called the “Chinese Beetle” and “Electric Beetle,” plagiarized the iconic Beetle design that has been a staple since 1938.
In a pivotal decision, the TRF-2 rejected the declaration embargoes presented by Volkswagen, following a March judgment that reversed a preliminary injunction initially favoring the German automaker. The court, guided by Federal Judge Simone Schreiber, held that the preservation of GWM’s registrations does not pose an irreversible risk or damage that would affect the outcome of the ongoing process.
Judge Schreiber emphasized that concrete risk needs to be demonstrated to justify the annulment of these registrations at the INPI, stating, “Given that the scope of the action is the debate over registrable industrial property at the INPI, and that the appellants [Volkswagen Germany and Brazil] did not provide documentation proving the ownership of current industrial design registrations, I do not see a risk of damage to their commercial activities.”
Moreover, the delayed action by Volkswagen—about nine months after the initial approval of the registrations—was highlighted as indicative of the lack of imminent danger.
The embargoes sought to challenge the collective decision from the initial appeal, aiming to revisit the matter, which Judge Schreiber clarified is not the procedural objective of declaration embargoes. They are intended only to address ambiguities or omissions in the judgment, not to correct an alleged misjudgment.
This ruling underscores the stringent standards for altering established registrations and the importance of timely and well-substantiated claims in intellectual property disputes.
Stay tuned for further updates on this evolving story!
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