A judge in A Coruña has exempted the owner of an Arteixo vehicle buying and selling business from paying more than two million euros to Ferrari, which accused him of exploiting the brand's industrial property rights for having a car that appeared to be from the signature.
In the ruling of September 28 and now released by the Superior Court of Xustiza (TSXG), the magistrate of Criminal Court number 3 has acquitted the business owner of the crime against industrial property that he was accused of.
The magistrate considers it proven that, in the first days of October 2018, the man bought a Ford Cougar vehicle to which unknown people had previously made “various modifications”, with which they had achieved “a certain appearance of passing for a Ferrari F430 “Scuderia.”
These alterations, according to the ruling, affected different elements of the body and interior of the car, and, in addition, “emblems and shields with the name of Ferrari, F430, Scuderia and the characteristic prancing horse” had been installed in visible places on the car. of Ferrari.”
The judge indicates that some of these pieces are from other brands, “very similar to those of Ferrari,” while others are “handmade.”
“The accused acquired the vehicle with full knowledge that, in reality, it was not a Ferrari,” said the magistrate, while indicating that he bought it with the intention of using it as a management vehicle for the establishment dedicated to the car buying and selling.
In addition, he placed stickers of the business on the sides of the car, which he used until October 22, 2018, the day it was seized by the Arteixo Local Police.
The head of the Criminal Court number 3 of A Coruña has rejected proving the commission of a crime against industrial property, as he emphasizes that the accused, a second-hand car salesman, “it would be difficult to believe that he knew a single word.” of models or industrial drawings of vehicles.”
Therefore, he has concluded that "even less will know that there may be a registration by Ferrari of the components of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia in the Intellectual Property Office of the European Union."
The magistrate concludes that the accusations "have not been able to prove that the vehicle was offered for sale, even though the photo of the car appeared on the establishment's website."
Based on this, in the ruling the judge points out: “Does the use of a tuned car, which even to those who are less knowledgeable it is clearly not a Ferrari, violate the rules of the competition? Is the Ferrari brand going to lose any sales of its exclusive vehicles because a second-hand car salesman drives around Arteixo in a Ford Cougar that looks like a Ferrari? "Are we really seeking a prison sentence that includes, in addition, the payment of no less than 2,100,000 euros for the reputational damage caused by the accused to the image of the brand?"
The ruling is not final, since an appeal can be filed against it before the Provincial Court of A Coruña.
This case is not unique. Less than a year ago, agents of the Guardia di Finanza in the town of Asti, in Piedmont (Italy), reported a 26-year-old man for a crime of forgery. The young man was driving a fake Ferrari F430, that is, at first glance it looked like a sports car from the Prancing Horse company, but in reality it was a masterfully modified Toyota MR 2 Coupé.
