Can foreign car makers protect their intellectual property in China?

For years, Chinese car makers have rolled out blatant copies of popular foreign models including the Porsche Cayenne, the BMW 7 series and the Mercedes C-Class. Although their cars are clearly being cloned, these companies can do very little to defend their designs. The Chinese government has, and will almost always defend their domestic car makers and shoot down any copyright infringement claims by foreign companies.

With Ford trying to fight this trend and fighting for its F-150 design, it brings in a question of whether the Chinese government’s stance will ever budge. To a certain extent, it is reminiscent of the Japanese auto industry in the 70’s where the car makers were “borrowing” design cues from the popular American brands. Since then Japan has grown to be one of the leaders of innovation and design in the automotive world. It might be a stretch to compare the two situations but the Chinese auto industry can make a sharp change.

No matter the outcome of Ford’s battle, one thing is clear; If the Chinese government wants to extend its automotive reach globally, they need to control their domestic car makers and although it is definitely a stretch, begin to respect intellectual property rights of the foreign auto industry.

Original article http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/ford-takes-legal-action-against-chinese-company-over-knockoff-f-150

Few examples of Chinese car “clones” http://www.unfinishedman.com/ultimate-chinese-knock-offs-of-cars/