Honda to sue Chinese government agency

Honda Motor announced Wednesday that it plans to sue China’s State Intellectual Property Office, which recently canceled patent protection for Honda’s new CR-V. The government agency maintains that the design of the new model is too similar to the company’s first CR-V, which was launched in 1995. China has a poor track record of protecting intellectual property rights across a broad spectrum of industries.

By s.waterman@p1data.com
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Honda Motor announced Wednesday that it plans to sue China’s State Intellectual Property Office, which recently
canceled patent protection for Honda’s new CR-V. The government agency maintains that the design of the new model is
too similar to the company’s first CR-V, which was launched in 1995. China has a poor track record of protecting
intellectual property rights across a broad spectrum of industries.
Honda manufactures the CR-V in China
through a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group.

Honda has been down this path before – in 2003 the
company won a similar dispute in China over a motor scooter patent.

China is a member state of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

[Source: Automotive
News]