M&M seeks injunction against Fiat’s complaint in US

Mahindra & Mahindra has filed a public interest statement against Fiat Chrysler in the US after the latter’s complaint alleged the M&M Roxor infringed upon a Willys Jeep design.

“The company and MANA (Mahindra Automotive North America) have commenced a proceeding in the Federal District Court at Michigan to enforce the Grill Design Agreement that the company had executed with Fiat in 2009 and to seek an injunction against Fiat from proceeding with the International Trade Commission (ITC) complaint that has been filed by it,” M&M said in a BSE statement on Wednesday.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) had earlier this month filed a complaint in the US alleging that Mahindra had infringed on the designs of its subsidiary, Jeep, with the new Mahindra Roxor, and sought to prevent the sale of the off-road vehicle in the US market.

“We are asking the court to block Fiat from participating in the ITC claim — an injunction — because of the fact that they agreed in 2009 to never bring such claims if we use a grille that they approved,” said the M&M statement.

The Fiat complaint alleges that certain design features of the Mahindra Roxor infringe on the intellectual property rights of the Jeep design as it was modelled after the original Willys Jeep.

The Anand Mahindra company said Roxor was the result of more than three years of research and development and not an imported low-quality “knock-off” kit car as claimed by FCA.

The risk for M&M

“There is no monetary claim such as compensation and damages sought by them. However, if they succeed in getting a permanent injunction from the company exporting infringing parts or components to the US and MANA importing the same the US, the company will not be able to sell such parts or components to the US and the sale of such parts or components by the company to MANA will be affected,” M&M said.

The public interest statement has been filed by MANA, a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra, arguing that Fiat is using the case to harm its Roxor business by creating negative publicity, damaging its reputation and stature in the marketplace.

“We also demonstrated that the Roxor is a vehicle that was always intended only as off-road, does not compete with Fiat vehicles and is manufactured and assembled in the first OEM plant to be built in Michigan,” the company said in a statement.

M&M is also seeking an injunction against Fiat from proceeding with the complaint filed by it.

Responding to shareholder concerns over a complaint filed by FCA in the US, Anand Mahindra recently said, “M&M didn’t go there (US market) without looking into all possible issues that we might or might not face. We are very confident that this case is without merit.”

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