Audi attempted to block Nio from using the names ES8 and ES6 as Nio is entering the European market. It took a turn for Audi as the European Union Intellectual Property Office shot down its request. After a 15-month-long battle, a German court sided with Audi last month. It was after initially seeing the Chinese EV maker Nio 2021 protest the integrity of its S6 and S8 model names.
According to the German court, two of Nio’s electric SUV models, the ES6 and ES8, sounded too closely to Audi’s existing S6 and S8 vehicle’s names. Meanwhile, the judge explained that although Nio’s names are different from Audi’s, buyers may get confused, believing that the added E is just an “electric” Audi model, saying, “There is a risk that consumers will assume that the “ES 6” is the “S 6” in the electric version, that the two vehicles are from the same manufacturer. There is therefore a transfer danger of confusion through association that goes beyond pure association.”
After launching its first EV in the region, the “ES7” model, Nio renamed it to EL7 to avoid possible backlash. The Nio EVs mentioned in the naming lawsuit by Audi are not yet available in Germany. The ruling was not final, and Nio said at the time it would appeal the decision and defend its legal rights. Despite winning the battle in Germany, it seems Audi is losing the overall war in Europe after the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled this week that Nio’s ES6 and ES8 models do not, in fact, constitute confusion, according to CnEVPost.
Nio entering Europe
After the last court ruling, the EV naming lawsuit looks like a classic case of an established player picking on the new guy. At the same time, they do sound familiar and could easily be confused, especially for those living in Europe who are used to seeing Audi’s S6 and S8 models and knowing the brand is going all electric.
Notably, NIO has not yet started selling the ES6 or ES8 in Germany, the latter of which is available in Europe only in Norway. On October 7, 2022, NIO launched the ET7, ET5, and the SUV known as ES7 in China in Europe at the NIO Berlin event. A few hours before the launch, however, NIO changed the name of the ES7 in Europe to EL7. In a response shared with local media outlet Sina Tech, NIO said at the time that it has been making global registration applications for trademarks since 2016 and has received successful registrations in China and most markets in Europe and the US.
