Italian scooter giants, Piaggio have won an historic lawsuit again French (now Indian owned) company Peugeot Motocycles that prevents ‘counterfeit’ three-wheeled scooters being sold in Italy and France.

In a statement released today, The Piaggio Group said that rulings had been issued against Peugeot with regards to its tilting three-wheeled Metropolis scooter. The ruling has upheld Piaggio’s stance that the Metropolis (pictured above) infringes the patented Piaggio control system that allows the 3-wheeler to tilt sideways like a conventional scooter.

The rulings were issued by the Tribunal Judiciaire or Paris AND the Court of Milan. Both courts found Peugeot guilty of infringing a European patent on the technology of the Piaggio MP3 three-wheeled scooter. Peugeot Motocycles have been ordered to pay damages of €1,500,000 in addition to further penalties and legal expenses.

The Piaggio MP3 is seen here in Paris, the largest market for the tilting three-wheeler in the world.

Big sanctions

The ruling of the Paris court prohibits Peugeot Motocycles (on French territory) – which incidentally is the largest market for the MP3 – from producing, promoting, marketing, importing, exporting, using and/or possessing any three-wheeler scooter that uses the control system patented by the Piaggio Group (including the Peugeot Metropolis). A penalty will be applied for every counterfeit vehicle.

In Milan, the court has also prohibited Peugeot Motocycles (on Italian territory) from importing, exporting, marketing and advertising (offline and online) the Peugeot Metropolis with a 6,000 Euro fine for every vehicle sold after 30 days from the ruling. Peugeot must also withdraw all counterfeit vehicles from sale in Italy within 90 days or face an extra 10,000 Euro fine for every day the order is delayed.

Clone wars

We reported when Piaggio lost a five-year court battle with a Chinese manufacturer in 2019. A case against Vespa lookalikes. Also, back in 2013 seven Chinese manufacturers had their ‘counterfeit’ scooters seized at the prestigious EICMA show in Milan.

Piaggio has been monitoring competitor products and international patent databases for a number of years. Lawsuits brought by Piaggio Group have lead to the unique identity (silhouette) of some of its brands being recognised around the world, meaning this probably won’t be the last courtroom brawl the Italians will be taking part in.