Small-scale model car : infringement
26.09.2003
The Court of Justice underlines that the reproduction under the form of a miniature constitutes an infringement, this cannot be acceptably denied without any extentive interpretation of the text
The German company Volkswagen AG is the holder of an international design of a car filed on 21 February 2000.The company P produces and sells without authorization a small-scale model of the protected car. This exploitation was continued despite a formal notice and a refusal opposed to a demand of authorization of production and exploitation.The articles L511-1 and L521-4 tell the principle of the exclusive right of the creator and its eligible persons to exploit or trade an original design and prohibit any reproduction without the authorization of the holder.The Court of Justice underlines that the reproduction under the form of a miniature constitutes an infringement, this cannot be acceptably denied without any extentive interpretation of the text, which is perfectly general and does not exclude any form of reproduction.The fact that the object be manufactured in spare parts does not involve any creation, as well as the fact of giving an new destination to the reproduced design.The small-scale model is thus an infringement of the design filed for the car.
