Chinese Court Rubber Stamps Fiat Panda Clone
Remember how an Italian court recently banned Great Wall’s GWPeri from sale in Europe for too closely resembling Fiat’s Panda? Well, the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court sees things more… sympathetically. Fiat had sued Great Wall in China as well as Europe. But the legal battle has been lost on the eastern front. Reuters reports that the Chinese court dismissed patent infringement claims against Great Wall, ordering Fiat to pay $1,290 in court fees. Fiat is “evaluating its options” (read: figuring out who to bribe), posing petulantly for the press. “We acknowledge the Chinese court decision notwithstanding we point out that it goes on the opposite avenue vis-a-vis a resolution taken on July 15 by a court in Europe on the same issue,” say Fiat spokesfolks. Great Wall, on the other hand, is using this as one of those “no such thing as bad publicity” opportunities, letting everyone know that it will start selling a pickup in Italy later this year. What, you thought all that cheap labor didn’t have its price?