In 2004, Wuhan Xinjianye Advertising Decoration Co., Ltd. (Wuhan Xinjianye) signed a design contract with Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. (Honda), for the image and architectural structure design of Dongfeng Honda Automobile Sales Servicshop 4S. The contract did not make any provision in relation to ownership of copyright in the designs. When Honda went ahead and built the Serviceshop 4S without involving Wuhan Xinjianye further, Wuhan Xinjianye sued Honda claiming infringement of its copyright and seeking compensation of 150,000 yuan (approx. US$ 23,548) for economic loss on the basis that, in building the Dongfeng Honda Automobile Sales Servicshop 4S, Honda and others had made unauthorised use of its CAD drawings (i.e. construction drawings) and other artistic works.
At first instance, the People's Court of Haidian District of Beijing held that Wuhan Xinjianye’s CAD drawings and other artistic works were original and constituted graphic and artistic works for the purposes of the Copyright Law. They did not constitute ‘architectural works’ as ‘architectural work’ refers to the building itself. Although Wuhan Xinjianye is the owner of copyright in the CAD drawings, Honda had an implied licence to use the drawings for the purpose for which they were created. It had not, therefore, infringed copyright. The court rejected all Wuhan Xinjianye’s claims.
Wuhan Xinjianye appealed to the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, which recently handed down a final judgment, rejecting the appeal and upholding the decision of the People’s Court of Haidian District.
The Link LonkMay 31, 2021 at 06:35PM
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Appeal Court finds in Honda's favour in copyright infringement action concerning use of CAD drawings to build Honda Automobile Sales Serviceshop 4S - Lexology
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