BMW can take a breather now. On June 26 a local Munich court ruled it as an infringement that German dealers sold Chinese Shuanghuan CEO, which is similar to BMW X5 in terms of its body design. However, BMW has no current plans to sue Shuanghuan in China.

In September 2007, BMW sued Shuanghuan Automobile and its dealers in the local court of Munich for "tortuous acts", defined by the Hebei manufacturer (Shuanghuan) publicly displaying its CEO car in the Frankfort Auto Show in Germany.

According to the judgment made by the court, German dealers have to stop selling Shuanghuan CEO, destroy the present cars and compensate BMW for corresponding losses. Carl Slaussel, responsible for the distribution of Shuanghuan in Germany, said, "This judgment is not the final result. We will appeal."

Mr. Slaussel said that his company would appeal to the judicial institution of European Union, in accordance with EU law. He feels that the prohibition of auto sales in Germany is invalid since it is permitted in other members of the EU.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.dfdaily.com/node2/node27/node120/userobject1ai97619.shtml).

(China.org.cn July 1, 2008)