Rolls-Royce considering copyright suit against Geely GE
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/sedans/" rel="tag">Sedans/Saloons</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/china/" rel="tag">China</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/etc/" rel="tag">Etc.</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/government-legal/" rel="tag">Government/Legal</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/rolls-royce/" rel="tag">Rolls-Royce</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/special-limited-editions/" rel="tag">Special/Limited Editions</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/shanghai-motor-show/" rel="tag">Shanghai Motor Show</a></p><a href="http://chinese.autoblog.com/photos/ge-limo-2009/1506437/"><img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/geely-ge-lead-580-shanghai.jpg" /></a><br />
<div align="center"><strong><e m><small>Geely GE Limousine - Click above for a high-res image gallery</small></em></strong><br /></div>
<br />Earlier this week, we showed you the<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/21/shanghai-2009-geely-ge-goes-for-baroque-again/"> first live shots of Chinese automaker Geely's new GE</a> model, a three-seat luxury sedan unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show. With its gigantic, upright waterfall grille, boxy proportions, Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, and LED starlight headliner, it didn't take an enthusiast's eye to see that Geely is openly aping the Rolls-Royce Phantom. <br /><br />Understandably, that development hasn't been sitting well with Rolls-Royce officials, who promptly got on the horn to their lawyers after clapping their eyes on the GE. While the British luxury firm has stopped short of saying they intend to sue, according to an article in the<em> U.K. Telegraph</em>, a Rolls-Royce spokesman admits "Rolls-Royce is currently keeping its options open and is in consultation with its legal advisers."<br /><br />At an estimated &pound;30,000 - around $44k USD - for the GE (versus &pound;250,000/$365k for the Phantom), it could be argued that few are likely to confuse the two vehicles, but even still, critics argue that Roller would appear to have a compelling case that cars like the GE are not only intellectual property theft, but that they could also serve to erode brand equity of the genuine article. <br /><br />What say you? Drop your fellow reader a line in 'Comments.'<br /><br /><br /><div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://chinese.autoblog.com/photos/ge-limo-2009/">Geely GE Limo</a></strong></p><a href="http://chinese.autoblog.com/photos/ge-limo-2009/1506437/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/chinese.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/autoblog_cn_img_0085_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://chinese.autoblog.com/photos/ge-limo-2009/1506438/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/chinese.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/autoblog_cn_img_0087_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://chinese.autoblog.com/photos/ge-limo-2009/1506436/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/chinese.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/autoblog_cn_img_0092_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://chinese.autoblog.com/photos/ge-limo-2009/1506431/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/chinese.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/dsc_1352_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://chinese.autoblog.com/photos/ge-limo-2009/1506434/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/chinese.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/dsc_1351_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /><em><small><strong>Photo s copyright (C) 2009 IceBin / Weblogs, Inc<br /></strong></small></em><small><div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-rolls-royce-phantom/">2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-rolls-royce-phantom/1361703/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/02/rolls_royce_phantom_facel ift2009-10_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-rolls-royce-phantom/1361702/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/02/rolls_royce_phantom_facel ift2009-12_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-rolls-royce-phantom/1361695/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/02/rolls_royce_phantom_facel ift2009-01_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-rolls-royce-phantom/1361705/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/02/rolls_royce_phantom_facel ift2009-02_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-rolls-royce-phantom/1361701/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/02/rolls_royce_phantom_facel ift2009-03_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div></small><em><small><strong> <br /></strong></small></em>[Source: <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/5205369/Rolls-Royce-considers-legal-action-against-30000-Chinese-copycat.html">U.K. Telegraph</a>]<p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/23/rolls-royce-considering-copyright-suit-against-geely-ge/">Rolls-Royce considering copyright suit against Geely GE</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/23/rolls-royce-considering-copyright-suit-against-geely-ge/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/1525865/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/23/rolls-royce-considering-copyright-suit-against-geely-ge/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

أكثر...