Piaggio Files Patent Infringement Complaint Against Yamaha, Peugeot

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

Piaggio has filed complaints with Italian courts alleging Yamaha and Peugeot infringed on the company’s idea for leaning three-wheeled scooters. The legal complaint, filed with the court of Milan, alleges the Yamaha Tricity and Peugeot Metropolis copied Piaggio’s designs and patents used for the MP3. Piaggio seeks a hold on sales and withdrawal from market as well as monetary damages.

The Piaggio MP3 was first brought to market in 2006, introducing the company’s parallelogram suspension system which allows scooters to lean into corners like a two-wheeler. Peugeot introduced its Metropolis in 2012 while Yamaha debuted the Tricity at year later.

Though Piaggio’s complaints were filed in the fall, the parties involved will have to wait until this summer for the court to settle matters. Italy’s La Reppublica reports the case against Peugeot has been adjourned until June 16 while a preliminary hearing between Piaggio and Yamaha will be held July 24.

La Reppublica also reports Piaggio has filed a similar suit against Peugeot in Paris, France. That would also be an important case, not because it’s Peugeot’s home market but because France is a huge market for three-wheeled scooters. A motorcycle endorsement is not required for three-wheelers in France, a big reason why the Piaggio MP3 claims the market lead in the touring scooter segment with more than 70,000 units sold since launch.

[Source: La Reppublica]

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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