Not long ago, I believe everyone has heard of the controversy between Geely Automobile and Changan Automobile regarding new energy design:
When Geely Automobile was building momentum for its mid-to-high-end new energy brand "Geely Galaxy" , Changan Automobile was the first to respond to Solitaire. The copywriting of "Looking up at the Milky Way, it is a touch of deep blue" amazed many people.
As a result, at the Geely Galaxy New Energy Strategy Conference on February 23, as soon as the "Galaxy Light" prototype was unveiled, Changan Automobile became the first to defend its rights and sent a lawyer to Geely Automobile. letter. Geely also gave a very firm statement in this regard, saying that the content of the lawyer's letter was seriously inaccurate, and the accusations against Geely were baseless and misleading the public.
The same designer caused trouble?
The most important point of contention is that the leading designer of this prototype car, Chen Zheng, who is also the vice president of design of Geely Automobile Group, had a long career in Changan Automobile before joining Geely in March 2022. 20 years of work experience.
Changan CS75 PLUS, UNI-T and other classic models that have achieved good sales and reputation are all created by Chen Zheng.
The feeling this incident gave me can be compared with an example: the famous Japanese designer Kenya Hara started working for MUJI, but one day he suddenly switched jobs to Miniso.
As a result, the products he designed were still "genderless designs" or "unconscious designs" with a strong personal style. Muji then sent a lawyer's letter to Miniso, accusing Miniso of plagiarism.
Essentially speaking, the core of these two things is the same: after a designer changes owners, it is difficult to get rid of his strong personal style in his works.
As a result, when a large number of people see the comparison pictures of the appearance of the two brands of models, it is indeed difficult to tell that they are not similar at first glance.
But from a design perspective, the design styles of the two cars are still different: under a similar general framework, there are many differences in design details.
In contrast, the design of the "Galaxy Light" prototype is obviously more avant-garde, with more blurry and rounded lines, while the lines of the Changan UNI-V are more concise and tough, and the design style is more straightforward.
It is difficult for people to change their own style, so it is difficult to give a clear legal definition of "copying oneself", but one thing is certain, when Chen Zheng was serving in Chang'an The appearance patent of the designed model should belong to Changan.
Just like a singer cannot sing previously released songs after terminating the contract with the management company, at least he has to pay royalties if he sings them.
So the dispute between Changan and Geely is just the beginning, and there will be a long legal process waiting for the two giants.
Those things that the car industry "learns" from
There have been plagiarism cases that have gone to court in the car industry before. The most famous ones are of course Shuanghuan and Honda, which can be said to be the number one in car infringement. Case closed.
In 2002, Honda believed that the Shuanghuan Noble S-RV copied its own CR-V, so it took it to court. Shuanghuan Noble S-RV also lost its market due to the defendant's infringement, its sales were bleak, and it had to stop production early.
Unexpectedly, Shuanghuan blamed Honda for all this and filed a countersuit. In the end, the court ruled that Honda needed to pay Shuanghuan 16 million yuan in compensation plus more than 2 million yuan in trial costs. After spending 12 years to get such a result, Honda is really dumb and unable to express its suffering.
Shuanghuan Motors scored twice in 2006. It released a mini coupe, the Shuanghuan Little Noble, which even became popular because it imitated the Mercedes-Benz smart.
In 2008, Shuanghuan was sued by BMW again, completing a "hat trick" in just 6 years. BMW believes that the double-ringed large-displacement SUV model S-CEO is a copycat of the BMW X5.
What’s interesting is that in July, BMW won a lawsuit against it in Munich, Germany. Shuanghuan was banned from selling the CEO model in Germany. The result was another reversal. In December, BMW filed another infringement lawsuit in Italy but was dismissed by the court.
After hearing the verdict, Martin Motors, the European distributor of Shuanghuan Motors in Milan, said more confidently:
“We are convinced that the CEO has never counterfeited the X5. We are very happy that the court ruled in favor of it. Our point of view.
”
In addition to the double ring with strong psychological quality, the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque and Landwind X7 also caused a lot of litigation when they were involved in a lawsuit. However, in the end both lost their appearance patent rights and the lawsuit ended in invalidity.
There is also the emoji of the spoiled Porsche president, which was even ridiculed by netizens as a joke about wanting to go to their own booth but finding out that they went to the wrong Zotye booth.
All the above are examples of lawsuits. , but no satisfactory results have been obtained. It can be seen that it is indeed difficult to hold accountable the plagiarism of the rim design.
Not to mention that the components of the entire vehicle are similar in local frame design. It is impossible for car companies to apply for patents on every part of their models. For example, when Land Rover applies for a patent for the appearance of its models, it also requires the very high design uniqueness of the car itself and the brand's good luck in the application process.
So when faced with design plagiarism, most car companies find it difficult to argue, so they adopt the attitude of having no choice but to imitate others and be copied. What’s more, the domestic design market has already quietly formed due to its own weaknesses and other reasons. Such a trend.
Times have changed, and with the rise of new energy vehicles, the definition of plagiarism standards will actually be more difficult to control now, because the appearance designs of new energy vehicles of the same class are very similar. High, there are still no clear regulatory constraints on the car design itself.
Car companies have tacitly accepted closed front faces, through-type light strips, hidden air intake grilles, panoramic canopies, etc. The configuration has become standard, but there seems to be no explanation as to why it is done so.
Take the through-type taillights as an example. The earliest ones were used on Lincoln models, but now new energy vehicles are used. Almost all cars use through-type taillights. If it was defined as "plagiarism", wouldn't Lincoln have to sue them all?
And when I was banned from doing design in my first year of work after graduation, I was heartless. When you don’t want to turn over a lot of molds (select good-looking pictures and model them), the master reminds the dreamer: “This is the best way to improve yourself quickly when you have a weak foundation and lack of experience. Way. ”
I think this sentence is also applicable to the design of new energy vehicles.
In the eyes of Chinese people, the appearance of Chinese cars and foreign cars is similar, which was simply not the case ten years ago. "Pixel-level plagiarism" and "tape-measurement" were old jokes from that era.
But now that we have entered the era of new energy vehicles, the question of how to build a "good-looking" car has actually changed. There are many independent brands working hard for this.
The significance of reference is to make a choice
Looking at the larger picture, in the process of rapid growth of an industry, positive reference is needed. It is desirable and necessary.
Obviously this has become the norm in the design of new energy vehicles. You must know that the new energy industry is not yet saturated and is in the "development" stage, which is consistent with this norm of reference. .
The key to "positive reference" is not only that car companies can accumulate experience in the design reference of car models, but also whether they can find their own brand concepts and empower them.
At present, this seems to be the only way for all domestic design markets, but car companies are also faced with a choice to give you a reference, whether to choose from "0" to "0" or from "0". ” to “1”?
For example, the appearance of TANK300, Beijing BJ40 and other models in the car industry last year made hardcore off-road popular. People were attracted by the retro “big” shape, square front and wide tires of off-road models. The inherent impressions have all appeared on these Internet celebrity models without exception.
Similar models have continued to emerge in the past two years, such as the recently launched BYD U8 and Jietu Traveler. . Of course, not only Great Wall, Chery, BYD and other car companies are eager to try it, but in fact, including Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and other brands' off-road models, they all borrow from the Jeep model, the originator of modern off-road vehicles.
And Jeep. The CJ-5, the first model released after its establishment in 1954, was actually improved from the military transport vehicle manufactured by Bantam Company for the US military during World War II. This model directly helped the off-road vehicle complete the transformation from military to civilian use. It has far-reaching significance for the development of global off-road vehicles.
Coincidentally, the first-generation domestic hard-core off-road vehicle, the "Changjiang Brand" 46 off-road vehicle, imitates the styling design of the Jeep CJ-5. The shape of the front of the car feels very similar.
Forward reference is of course not copying and pasting. Within the limited time, energy, and money, the workers re-measured and designed the CJ-5 drawings, and the required parts were almost all done manually. Polished. But with the inspiration of the reference, the car-making workers quickly completed the transition from "0" to "1", and even mass-produced 38 "Changjiang Brand" Type 46 off-road vehicles that year.
After a few years, the debut of Beijing BJ212 has written several new strokes on the white paper of the domestic hardcore off-road market. Its styling also borrowed from the Soviet god cars GAZ 69 and Jeep Willys. Since its launch in 1965, the styling has not been significantly modified, making it a classic in the history of domestic off-road racing.
This car not only provides more reference for the brand's subsequent models, but also establishes the BAIC brand's position in the domestic off-road circle. For example, the BJ40, which was only officially launched after 6 years, has room to compete with well-known models such as the Mercedes-Benz Big G and Land Rover Defender.
Domestic off-roading can reach this stage, of course, it is inseparable from the imitation of excellent cases by car companies in the early stage of development. What is commendable is that they turned reference into tribute and controversy into innovation.
For example, the Wuling Hongguang Etsuya, which has become an internet celebrity even before it is launched on the market, has obviously borrowed its styling from Suzuki's