Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra has won the right to continue selling its Roxor SUV in the US, after a protracted legal battle with Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA – part of Stellantis).
The Roxor was unveiled in 2018, showcasing a “simple, hard worn approach, featuring a steel body on a boxed steel frame.”
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The FCA sued Mahindra and filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC). It accused the Indian automaker of copying design elements from its iconic Jeep.
In 2020, the ITC said that Mahindra had infringed upon intellectual property rights of FCA. According to the federal agency, the Roxor violated ‘trade dress’, the visual characteristics of a product that identify the source to consumers.
The ITC issued an import ban and pre-2020 Roxor models were blocked from being sold in the US.
However, redesigned Roxor vehicles were not banned as the ITC ruled it did not infringe on FCA’s trademark rights.
In the latest development, FCA again tried to block the sales of the Roxor, calling for a ‘safe-distance’ rule to be applied.
US District Judge Gershwin Drain in Detroit, Michigan ruled that Mahindra’s design was not “likely enough” to cause consumer confusion to justify a ban.
In a regulatory filing, Mahindra said in July, the Eastern District Court of Michigan “has issued its opinion and order on FCA’s renewed motion to enjoin the Post-2020 Roxor and has based on its analysis, declined to apply the safe distance-rule to this case as sought by FCA.”
