Oldest rights
To make matters worse, the Chinese also own the oldest rights: they have a European trademark registration of this logo from 2010. Life-threatening, because this would allow them to force Citroën to modify its logo.
Cancellation
To kill this danger, Citroën tried to overturn Xiamen’s trademark registration. According to the French, Xiamen has not used the logo in Europe for the past five years. In trademark law, the rule is that if you don’t use your trademark for five years, another person can try to cancel your registration.
Mark in use
On Oct. 19 the European trademark office EUIPO issued its ruling. Based on evidence submitted, EUIPO now concludes that Xiamen did use the logo commercially in Europe. The trademark registration therefore remains in place for “electric buses” and “electric vehicles,” EUIPO said.
The battle can begin
Now that it has been determined that Xiamen’s European trademark is valid, the real fight can begin. Does Citroën’s logo infringe on Xiamen’s trademark rights? Hmmm, very dark clouds are gathering over the French car brand.
