The first IP protection will be valid for five years whichwill be extended four times.
Accordingly, other automakers will not be allowed tomanufacture and sell cars with design identical or similar to Vinfast’s in theEU in the next 25 years.
Apart from the EU, Vinfast has applied for industrial designprotection for sedan and SUV in the US, Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, Malaysia,the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia.
The two models were designed by Italy’s Pininfarina and selectedby Vietnamese consumers in the contest “Choose the car also, VinFast” inOctober 2017.
In January 2018, Vinfast completed a 5 million USD contractwith Pininfarina and partnered with the world’s leading automobile technologyand manufacturing consulting firms such as BMW, Magna Steyer, AVL, Durr AG,Schuler AG and Eisenmann in order to churn out the first model by late 2019.
The model cars will be showcased at the Paris Motor Show2018 and then available on the domestic market.
Vingroup Vice Chairman Nguyen Viet Quang said Vinfast’sapplication for design protection abroad is an important step to join theglobal market and affirm its trademark strategy.
Standing for “Vietnam – Style – Safety – Innovation -Pioneer”, VinFast aims to manufacture cars that are a mix of modern style,comfortable quality, safety and international-class design, and are suitable toVietnamese taste.-VNA