An Italian court has determined that a patent owned by the Piaggio Group has been violated by Mahindra owned Peugeot Motocycles Italia.
The Corte di Cassazione, which is Italy’s supreme court of appeal, has dismissed the appeal filed by Peugeot Motocycles SAS and Peugeot Motocycles Italia against the ruling of the Milan Court of Appeal.
This ruling upheld the initial judgement of the Court of Milan, stating that the Peugeot entities had infringed upon the Italian portion of a Piaggio & C. S.p.A. European patent. The patent in question specifically pertains to the control system enabling a three-wheel vehicle like the Piaggio MP3, to tilt sideways like a traditional motorcycle.
The Corte di Cassazione did not evaluate the merits of the appeal by Peugeot Motocycles SAS and Peugeot Motocycles Italia, but instead deemed it inadmissible due to requests for new investigations and objections to alleged defects in the grounds of the court of appeal’s ruling. This official confirmation solidifies that the Italian segment of the Piaggio & C. S.p.A. European patent was indeed infringed, leading to an injunction against Peugeot Motocycles Italia. The Milan Court of Appeal has also determined that the Peugeot Motocycles Italia will be obligated to pay damages exceeding a million euros as a result of the infringement.
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