In accordance with the Shanghai Higher People's Court, in 2018, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Geely Automobile Research Institute prosecuted 4 companies of WM Motor, a new car maker, including WM Auto Technology Group, WM Smart Travel Technology, WM Automobile Manufacturing Wenzhou, and WM New Energy Automobile Sales Company have claimed as much as 2.1 billion yuan on the grounds of infringement of commercial secrets.

The case is the first intellectual property infringement case initiated by a Chinese Self-owned Brand, and it is also the lawsuit with the highest claim amount in intellectual property disputes in the Chinese auto industry.

In the first-instance judgment, the Shanghai Higher People's Court compared the parts dimensions and marked positions in the drawings of Geely Automobile and WM Motor, and 5 parts were found substantially similar. The drawings of the 5 infringing parts are the front stabilizer bar, the mounting bracket of the rear axle the left lower swing arm of the front suspension, the left bushing of the front stabilizer bar, and the rear axle, all of which are automotive chassis components.

Meanwhile, since 2016, there were many resigned employees from Chengdu Gaoyuan Automobile Industry Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Geely Automobile and joined the WM Motor department, some of them have served as WM Motor executives. In the internal mail system of Gaoyuan Motors, some of the above-mentioned blueprint information appeared in the mails of some resigned employees, which means that WM Motor has the conditions to have access to Geely Automobile’s trade secrets.

On December 26, the Shanghai Higher People's Court made the first-instance judgment on the intellectual property dispute of 2.1 billion yuan between Geely and Weimar. WM Motor needs to compensate Geely Automobile for 7 million yuan, including 5 million yuan in economic losses and 2 million yuan in various expenses to stop the infringement. In addition, WM Motor should stop using the 5 auto parts drawings used on the EX5 model. After the trial, the court found that the relevant information of these 5 drawings belonged to Geely Automobile.

From Jiemian.com

December 26th, 2022