The first lawsuit involving a foreign car maker since China's accession to the World Trade Organization has been dismissed by a Beijing court. Toyota Motor Corp said it regretted the court's decision to throw out the trademark infringement lawsuit it had filed against Chinese auto manufacturer Geely Group.
Toyota was suing Geely for RMB 14 million (US$1.7 million) in damages for violating its intellectual property rights. Toyota alleged that the logo for the Geely car model "Merry" was very similar to Toyota's and that Geely also used Toyota's name in advertising.
Geely countered with the explanation that it registered the "Merry" trademark with China's State Trademark Bureau in 1996 and used Toyota's name because it used engines built by a Toyota JV in China.