Ferrari wins EU court support in dispute with German car designers

From Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The Italian luxury sports car maker Ferrari won its dispute with a German car design company on Thursday after Europe’s highest court approved its arguments that it was entitled to design the appearance of its Ferrari FXX K racetrack car.

The case has ramifications for a wide variety of industries, particularly luxury brands looking to protect their designs from counterfeiting and manufacturers of complex products made up of numerous components.

The judgment of the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) came after a German court sought advice in a design dispute between Ferrari and the German car design company Mansory Design about certain elements of the bodywork of the Ferrari FXX K.

It’s all about the V-shaped section of the bonnet and front bumper that set the Ferrari FXX K apart from other cars.

Ferrari had sued Mansory Design in German court for making and selling these accessories that made the Ferrari 488 GTB, which costs around $ 250,000, look like the $ 2.6 million Ferrari FXX K, and said the company infringed its rights to the unregistered designs.

The ECJ said a component can be considered a single part with design rights if it is “a visible portion of the product or a complex product that is clearly defined by certain lines, contours, colors, shapes or textures”.

The case is C-123/20 Ferrari.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Ken Ferris)