Trademark Law: Registered Trademark Investigation - German Audi Sues Chinese EV Startup for Trademark Infringement of Car Names

I looked into the news regarding Audi trademarks that was introduced on Mr. Yasukata's YouTube broadcast yesterday.

I believe this is likely the news that was introduced on yesterday's broadcast.

According to the article, Audi has filed a lawsuit in a Munich court in Germany, alleging that the Chinese company NIO has infringed upon its trademark rights. Specifically, Audi claims that NIO's use of the names "ES6" and "ES8" for two of its vehicle models infringes upon Audi's "S6" and "S8" trademarks.

Upon checking TMView, it appears that the trademark rights serving as the basis for this claim are German Registration No. 39506098 and German Registration No. 39536090.

- German Registration No. 39506098: Audi's registered trademark (word mark "S6")
https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/#/tmview/detail/DE500000395060982

- German Registration No. 39536090: Audi's registered trademark (word mark "S8")
https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/#/tmview/detail/DE500000395360900

What surprised me in this investigation is that in Germany, even two-character word marks can be registered as trademarks. In Japan, as a general rule, two-character word marks cannot be registered.

I do not know the reasons or background for why two-character word marks can be registered in Germany. However, I felt that one should be careful about the differences in systems between countries when acquiring or exercising rights.

Note that designated goods such as automobiles fall under Class 12. Specific examples of Class 12 are as follows.

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