Ferrari are known for not letting anyone mess with its design legacy and heritage. Recently, Ferrari won a court case against Mansory for doing just that.
Ferrari took Mansory to court over the design of its 4XX Siracusa, claiming it copied the design of the Ferrari FXX K. Not only did Mansory copy the design of the $2.6 million track-only hypercar, but it also offered a tuning kit.
Ferrari SpA initially sued Mansory Design & Holding GmbH and WH at the Bundesgerichtshof court in Germany for “violating rights to unregistered designs”. Then the case was taken to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg, and on October 28, a statement was issued by the court.
In the statement, the court agrees with Ferrari's claims that it owns the design rights to the appearance of the FXX K. The court also recognises the copyright infringement of Mansory's tuning kit.
The design features of the Mansory 4XX Siracusa that imitate Ferrari's FXX K are V-shaped section on the bonnet and the front bumper. The car has a very similar shape for the dual bumper intakes, the F1-inspired base in the middle, the carbon fibre splitter, and the inlets on the black-coloured part of the bonnet.
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Documents from the court state: “making available to the public of the full design of a product, such as the appearance of a vehicle, also entails the making available to the public of the design of a part of that product, such as the appearance of certain elements of the bodywork of that vehicle, provided that the latter design is clearly identifiable at the time when that design is made available”.
It also acknowledges that “a visible section of a product, defined by particular lines, contours, colours, shape or texture, constitutes the ‘appearance of… a part of a product’, within the meaning of that provision, which may be protected as a Community design”.
It's still unknown what the repercussions for Mansory will be. Perhaps the 4XX Siracusa will have to be withdrawn from the market, or maybe the brand will be forced to pay royalties to Ferrari. But the case sends a strong message to other automakers.
