Nissan Motor May Sue Chinese Rival Over Design

TOKYO November 27, 2003; Dow Jones reported that Nissan Motor Corp. is considering legal action against a Chinese competitor for intellectual property theft, the Financial Times reported on its website Friday.

Nissan's dismay at Great Wall Automobile, a domestic company it accuses of copying a design for the front face of a sports utility vehicle, comes in the same week that Toyota Motor Corp. had its piracy case against a Chinese car company thrown out by a Beijing court.

Toyota's case revolved around the looping-T company logo, which it said had been copied by Geely, a domestic car maker, for use on its Meiri saloon.

Nissan's problem is with the front face of Great Wall's Sing sports utility vehicle which Nissan executives said was "exactly the same" as Nissan's Paladin model, the FT reported.

"Personally I am sympathetic to Toyota because I know how much money they spent developing their brand themselves," said Katsumi Nakamura, president of Dongfeng Motor, Nissan's joint venture manufacturer in China.

"Nissan has a similar case [with Great Wall] but our case is more serious," he added. "We are studying how to deal with this issue.

"The Toyota ruling may discourage us (from legal action)," he said.