Classic or not so classic, the electric scooter market is undergoing a sea of change, and globally new-age players are looking to reinvent the design language for the two-wheeler segment. It is no doubt that Italian automaker Piaggio redefined the scooter segment when it first launched the Vespa in 1946, which has undergone many revisions since then.
It was in November 2018 at EICMA one of the world’s largest trade exhibition for the two-wheeler industry when the dispute begin. The Italian police confiscated German electric vehicle start-up Kumpan Electric’s scooters in response to the accusations of copyright infringement made by Piaggio, which the company says was an extreme step that attracted a lot of attention in the media at the time under the hashtag #freekumpan.
Following to the event an important ruling has been made in the long-running legal dispute over the vehicle design of Kumpan electric with Italian Vespa manufacturer Piaggio: The Italian Vespa manufacturer had lodged a complaint regarding the design of the Kumpan electric scooter, which is protected EU-wide, as it believed it to be an infringement of its own trademark rights, design rights and intellectual property rights to the design of the Vespa scooters. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) had already rejected Piaggio’s complaint in the first instance. With its ruling on August 8, 2022 (case number R 1663/2020-3), the EUIPO’s Board of Appeal has now also rejected the subsequent appeal lodged by Piaggio in its entirety.
The Italian automaker now has two months to appeal against the EU trademark court’s decision – otherwise, the decision will become final.
Philipp Tykesson, one of the founders and MD of e-bility, the company behind the brand Kumpan electric said, “We are delighted and relieved that it has once again been confirmed at the European level: Our design is not a copy of a Vespa scooter. We are setting new standards in design and technology. This long-running legal battle has tied up huge resources and excluded us from one of the most important scooter markets in Europe – Italy. We would welcome an opportunity to meet with the family that owns Piaggio as soon as possible, ideally before the next EICMA in November, in order to pre-empt any future disputes, and to jointly advance the issue of sustainable personal transport.”
Matthias Wagner, patent lawyer, Wagner Albiger & Partner law firm said, “The EUIPO’s ruling clearly signals that Piaggio does not have the sole rights to the classic motor scooter design. This means that creative e-scooter players can also find ways into this important future market with their own innovative designs.”
At present, Kumpan electric manufactures e-scooters of various categories entirely in Remagen, Germany, and claims to be the only manufacturer in the 25-100kmh category (L3e) to mainly rely on components made in Germany. As of July 2022, more than 85 percent of the parts it uses to manufacture its scooters were sourced from German suppliers.
