Honda takes legal action over engine copies

Engine manufacturer Honda has taken legal action against two Chinese companies that it claims showed copied Honda products at a gardening equipment show in Cologne in September.

Honda said it was granted preliminary injunctions against Zhejiang Robot Industrial Trading and Yongkang Gerui Machinery for showing copied Honda general purpose engines in tilling and shredding machines at the SPOGA+GAFA exhibition in Cologne in early September.

The injunction is a temporary measure to prevent sales and marketing activities until a final court verdict is announced. Honda said preliminary injunctions are "only given when the court is convinced that there is a clear case of infringement."

Honda said it will "pursue, by all legal means, the manufacturers and distributors of imitation products in order to protect the market, and in particular end-users, from confusion."