Vespa Wins on Sales Floor and Courtroom

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Vespa is now valued at 1 billion euros. (Vespa/)

Vespa is a unique case in the history of two-wheeled motor vehicles in more than one way. First, Vespa is the only model—now a make—that survived through all the crises that have battered Italian industry since its inception, keeping its image and personality almost perfectly intact from its days in 1946. Piaggio built its financial fortune on the success of Vespa, not only then but even now—almost 80 years later. Vespa brand value has grown no less than 19 percent in the past two years and now just broke the 1 billion euro valuation barrier, according to global brand consultant and valuator Interbrand.

Vespa is the main pillar of the whole Piaggio Group’s financial health with a 30 percent turnover increase just in 2022. In the past couple of decades, Piaggio managed the Vespa brand and related models with a very sharp policy that mixed substantial under-the-skin technical improvements to well-placed styling touch-ups—both to the top-range GTS and the smaller Primavera. This policy has made the Vespa even more iconic in that it retained all its classic, nostalgic appeal while maintaining functionality, reliability, and safety.

Recently the iconic status of Vespa received an official acknowledgement by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that stated that the design of Vespa cannot be imitated, being perfectly recognizable all over Europe. This sentence closes a 10-year legal battle between Piaggio Group and Chinese Zhejiang Zhongneng Industry Group that had put into production their ZNEN scooter that was a total copy of the Vespa.

Vespa has won a legal battle regarding its design and its being copied. (Vespa/)

In 2014 the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) recognized the uniqueness of the Vespa design and acknowledged it as a trademark. But in 2018 Zhejiang Zhongneng Industry Group won the cancellation of the Vespa trademark in court, having acquired a stronger position on the European scene after purchasing the Moto Morini brand. The EUIPO reverted its previous decision and gave the Chinese company free hand to produce and sell its ZNEN scooter.

Vespa’s iconic shape is once again a trademark in Europe. (Vespa/)

Piaggio Vespa fought back and went to the CJEU to once again register Vespa design as a trademark. Now the EU court has reverted the judgment in favor of Piaggio Vespa and the ZNEN scooter cannot be imported and sold anywhere in Europe.

In 2020, Vespa had won another similar quarrel at EUIPO against another Chinese imitator, Chen Huang, that also had put into production copies of the one and only Vespa. This last one is a big success for Vespa that might fight for its iconic uniqueness also in other markets.

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