On February 25, it was reported that Audi took NIO to court in 2021 because users would subconsciously mistake the NIO ES6/8 for the electric model of the Audi S 6/8. Last month, the court declared that Audi had won the lawsuit, prohibiting NIO from banning the use of the “ES6” and “ES8” names in Germany. As a result, the NIO ES7 later directly changed its name to EL7 in Europe. (Note: NIO has not sold the ES6 or ES8 in Germany; the latter is only available in Norway)
Of course, the ruling was not final; NIO stated at the time that it would appeal the ruling and defend its legitimate rights and interests.
Although Audi has now won the case, the “ES6” and “ES8” trademarks are still in NIO's hands, so Audi asked the court to declare its trademarks invalid, and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled this week that NIO's ES6 and ES8 were not actually confusing, and rejected Audi's request.
According to court documents seen by CNEVpost, the European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled on February 21 that NIO's ES8 and ES6 did not pose a possibility of confusion with Audi's S8 and S6, and therefore rejected Audi's request. This means that Audi seems to be losing this protracted trademark war.
In other words, unless Audi overturns the EUIPO ruling, NIO's ES8 and ES6 trademarks will remain valid in the EU.