China Great Wall Auto Denies Copying Nissan SUV Model

HONG KONG November 28, 2003; Dow Jones reported that Great Wall Automobile Holding Co., China's largest pickup truck producer, said Friday it hasn't violated the intellectual property rights of Nissan Motor Co. . The company's comments followed a Financial Times report Friday that Nissan Motor is considering legal action against the firm, which plans to sell shares worth up to HK$1.53 billion ahead of a mid-December Hong Kong listing, for allegedly copying the front-face design of a sports utility vehicle. "The company's products are developed and manufactured by its own technical and (research & development) staff, or jointly developed by foreign professional companies," Great Wall Automobile said in a statement. "The board of directors of the company believe that (we haven't) infringed other vehicle manufacturers' intellectual property rights."

The Financial Times quotes Nissan executives as saying the front face of Great Wall Automobile's Sing SUV is "exactly the same" as its Paladin model.

Great Wall Automobile launched its Sing SUV in April, a spokeswoman from the company's corporate communications agency said.

"As at the date of this statement, Great Wall Automobile hasn't received any notice regarding the lawsuit...," the company said. "[We haven't] yet received any legal complaints related to infringement of intellectual property rights."

The company said it currently owns three car design patents and is in the process of applying for 28 more patents, including for the body design of the Sing SUV series.