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The US ITC upheld, for the most part, a judge’s earlier finding that the Roxor vehicle is a copy of a Jeep Wrangler.
FCA-Jeep argued that the Roxor is essentially a copy of the iconic Jeep, with special attention directed toward the boxy shape of its body, flat vertical sides, and rear body portion ending at close to the height of the hood.
Mahindra recently established an assembly plant in Auburn Hills, MI (the same city and only miles away from FCA-Jeep’s US headquarters) to build the Roxor.
Mahindra recently announced major styling changes to the Roxor for its 2020 model and stated that it would make additional changes as necessary to comply with the US ITC decision.
Mahindra has stated that the 2020 Roxor model is currently not in violation and believes that FCA-Jeep is attempting to monopolize the import and sale of boxy, military-shaped vehicles.
Bottom Line:
Trade dress is an important part of IP that is often neglected compared to patents, copyrights, and trademarks. However, in this case, trade dress was sufficient to stop a competitor from marking a product that arguably could confuse the public and established the strength of the Jeep Wrangler so that other competitors had better “tread lightly” when it comes to the Jeep.
Source: www.bloomberg.com
Photo credit: Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash
