Henrik Fisker has filed a $100 million lawsuit against former employer Aston Martin.
The renowned car designer is claiming damages after Aston Martin requested his company, Fisker Automobiles, cancel the launch of its Fisker Force 1 because it believes the new sports car’s design bears significant resemblance to its own products.
In a letter sent to Fisker on the 23 December 2015, David Kelly, an attorney representing Aston Martin, said the Force 1’s design should be changed to “avoid conflict with Aston Martin’s rights”. In particular, Aston Martin describes the design of the Force 1 as “strikingly similar” to its DB10. Fisker, however, believes the claims – which are based on a single teaser image – are unfounded, and his company has produced its own comparison images as evidence.
“We believe that in an effort to protect itself from further market erosion, Aston Martin conspired and devised a scheme to stomp out Henrik Fisker’s competitive presence in the luxury sports car industry,’ Fisker’s legal counsel, Jonathan Michaels of MLG Automotive Law, said. “Because of the threats they laid out in their letter we opted to play offense in regards to Aston Martin’s transparent and nefarious motives.”
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Bullfinch
A feast day for lawyers
Symanski
Fisker is a joke.
gigglebug
Symanski wrote: That I didn't
Yeah we can all see that it's blatant but I get the understanding that it's not an easy thing to prove in court. This is a quote from an expert (not me obviously!) "If a company does think a design has been copied, however, it’s not that easy to prove. “The company would have to prove that there has been copying by assessing the objective similarities and deciding whether those similarities are the result of independent creation, or whether the infringing design has been derived from the original design,” said our expert. “There must be a causal connection between the two works, which can be difficult to prove". We do appear to have stricter control on copying than most in England but of course that doesn't stop what happens else where. Maybe Fisker is suing Aston to bank role the project in the first place as like you say there really doesn't seem to be any reason why he wouldn't just build it regardless of Aston's attempt to stop him
gigglebug
Well if those Chinese knock
Symanski
It's not China...
Difference is that in China the government turn a blind eye to copyright theft. As long as it's good for the Chinese economy they don't care. In Europe it's a different matter. And if Fisker was so sure of his design, then a warning from Aston shouldn't have stopped him. That it has is telling.
gigglebug
Symanski wrote: gigglebug
I think you'll find that the Fake X5 was being sold from Italy to central Europe and indeed it was an Italian court that dismissed BMW's claims so it is relevant. The Thunderbolt was actually based on a Vanquish chassis so Fisker was in no position to claim it as his own and didn't, he just stated that if there was enough demand he would build them. You can understand Aston not wanting him to do so they put a stop to it. If the new car however is completely of Fiskers own design and doesn't use any Aston mechanical's then it will be a completely different matter and I can't see what they can do to stop him really
Symanski
gigglebug wrote: I think you
That I didn't know. As an original content creator I can assure you that really is theft.
It was too similar to the the Vanquish and they were right stop him. I'm sure if he did something original I'd be more impressed by him.
Totally agree. But from the sketch it's far far too similar to the DB10. Sure Fisker is pointing differences, and they are subtle too, but there's too many other aspect that are identical to how you'd draw a concept of the DB10. In the long run, forcing Fisker to be original will benefit Fisker more than Aston. He should thank them!
gigglebug
Look up a bit!!
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