ACEA

Intellectual Property - Providing a sound basis for European investors

Robust intellectual property (IP) laws encourage companies to innovate and support investment in R&D. The automotive sector therefore welcomes measures to protect legitimate manufacturing interests and moves to drive out the counterfeiters. It is therefore hard to understand why the Commission would push ahead with plans to abolish design protection for visible spare parts.

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Design protection is essential

The European automobile industry is traditionally a strong supporter of harmonised EU rules. With regard to design rights for visible automotive spare parts, ACEA proposes that the EU maintains and where necessary reintroduces a protection of at least 10 years across the EU. Abolishing design rights, as proposed by the European Commission, would harm competitiveness, lead to a loss of jobs and create no consumer benefits.

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The Chinese market is becoming ever more important

Between 1999 and 2003, China tripled its output of passenger cars and doubled the production of trucks. Long term, the country's rapid economic growth is likely to be reflected in continuing increased demand for vehicles, and some forecasts see China being the third biggest market worldwide by 2010. Chinese automotive manufacturers would benefit from the introduction of free trade and common standards, applied in the other major world automobile markets.

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International Trade - Mutual benefits in opening markets

The European automotive industry has a reputation for delivering quality products around the globe. Opportunities to develop trade abroad should be pursued and manufacturers support steps to remove barriers such as unreasonable import tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTB).

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