Diamond Blue brand conflict heating up

After Vinashin Motor launched Diamond Blue, a new scooter, Piaggio and Honda Vietnam implied that the model ‘has problems.’ However, the two manufacturers have not officially sued Vinashin Motor yet.

Diamond Blue scooters were launched into the market on September 1, 2010. The model immediately stirred up the public, because its design was similar to Piaggio’s Vespa LX model, while its engine is imported from China, and especially, the product has a ‘soft sale price’.

The new product has been selling very well over the last month.

After Vinashin Motor marketed the product, Honda Vietnam protested that the AF 14E Honda engine used for Diamond Blue is not produced by Honda Sundiro in China or any branches of Honda worldwide. Honda Vietnam has also said the manufacturer does not have any relations with the engines coded AF 14E, or any Diamond Blues that are imported, assembled and distributed in Vietnam.

After that, Piaggio issued a press release to all media stating that Piaggio did not affirm that Vinashin Motor violates copyright infringement, copies industrial design or imitates Piaggio’s products. It only implied that Diamond Blue’s design looks like Piaggios’ Vespa LX.

To date, both Honda and Piaggio have not made any steps showing that they will sue Vinashin Motor. However, with these moves, the two big manufacturers have shown their dissatisfaction with Diamond Blue, while analysts have forecast, a legal war may take place if the manufacturers can gather enough documents and proofs.

Meanwhile, when talking to Dau tu reporters, Vu Manh Ha, General Director of Vinashin Motor affirmed that they do not want to confront anyone. However, if necessary, the manufacturer will prove the legitimacy of the Diamond Blue brand.

Ha argued that Vinashin Motor competes healthily with other manufacturers, while offering products with high quality, low fuel consumption and affordability.

Ha added that Honda and Piaggio are big manufacturers, which have been present on the market for a long time, therefore, it would be quite normal for other manufacturers to learn from the experiences of these older companies

“However, Vinashin Motor does not imitate designs – thishas been recognized by competent agencies,” Ha maintained.

The representative from Vinashin Motor has provided necessary documents to reporters to prove the legitimacy of their product. The two most important documents are the certificate on vehicle quality and the certificate on the quality of import engines. The certificate granted by Vietnam Register isdated August 25, 2010 and certifies that the Diamond Blue brand’s engine originated from China and that the vehicle is assembled in Vietnam.

Vietnam Register also released a document on May 31, 2010, certifying that the engine AF 14E manufactured in 2009 used for Diamond Blue is completely new and has not been used before.

Diamond Blue consumes 2.1 litres of petrol for every 100 kilometres, which has the average speed at 45 kilometres per hour.

Responding to accusations that Vinashin Motor is dumping its product (which is now selling at 50 million dong), Ha affirmed that Vinashin Motor wants to introduce products that fit the pockets of Vietnamese customers.

Both Vietnam Register and Vinashin Motor offered documents to show that the engines AF14E are manufactured by Sundiro Honda Motorcycle Shanghai in China.

Pham Dinh Thuong, Head of the Institute of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology, has come to the conclusion that there is no evidence to show that Diamond Blue has violated the law on industrial design or copied the design of Piaggio LX125