Honda takes stand over political red-tape

HONDA intends to sue the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office for cancelling patent protection for its CR-V in China after the authority decided the vehicle was too similar to the model first launched there in 1995.

After waging several legal battles in recent years against Chinese manufacturers it alleges had copied the design of its CR-V, Honda is now facing the prospect of no patent protection in China for the latest version of its small 4WD.

The Japanese manufacturer claims that the intellectual property office had previously granted its CR-V a 10-year patent protection agreement covering the second-generation CR-V, which according to Honda commenced development in 2002.

Chinese Rover stoush
A LEGAL battle is looming as two of China’s biggest vehicle manufacturers, Nanjing Automobile and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), argue over the rights to produce cars based on MG Rover technology.

As GoAuto reported last week, SAIC looks set to introduce cars based on the Rover 75 and 25 after purchasing the relevant rights and assets to these vehicles before MG Rover collapsed.

Nanjing Auto has similar plans after purchasing MG Rover from administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers. Both companies have central government approval to build the cars.

London’s Financial Times has since reported that SAIC has threatened legal action against Nanjing if it starts production, but can do nothing until an infringement on its rights is actually made.