French court orders the destruction of counterfeit Vespas

If you’ve every been to a large motorcycle shows you’ll see a number of blatant knock offs of other manufacturers bikes and scooters, and a number of manufacturers who want to protect their propriety rights will call in the cops to have the counterfeit machines seized.
The iconic Vespa is probably the most copied scooter in the world, and the Piaggio Group has issued a brief statement reporting that they have won their legal battle against a company that displayed counterfeit Vespas during the “Salon de la Moto et du Scooter” that was held in Paris in November/December 2011.

The Parisian High Court (Tribunal de Grande Instance) has recognised Piaggio’s proprietary rights to the external forms of the Vespa, and have ordered the destruction of 49 scooters (like the one shown in the above photograph) that were in clear violation of Piaggio’s proprietary rights.
The company responsible for the infringement has also been ordered to pay all the legal costs.
The Piaggio Group considers this ruling very important in the protection of industrial and design property rights are concerned and, as in any other country in which Piaggio has promptly and quickly intervened to fight unfair competition and the infringement of property rights, and considers the decision of the High Court in Paris to be an additional means of protecting the Vespa brand, global product of the Piaggio Group, in France.