Having parted company with their original Chinese production partner Hanway last year and established a new manufacturing joint venture in Thailand, British retro scooter brand Scomadi owners Frank Sanderson and Paul Melici have initiated High Court proceedings to defend their intellectual property rights. The defendants are Hanway through its RA Engineering offshoot, which is allegedly planning to launch Royalloy-branded scooters based on Scomadi designs, and potential UK distributor for these products Moto GB.
A statement issued by Scomadi explained the company’s position: “Scomadi Limited and Scomadi Worldwide Limited have now commenced proceedings in the High Court in England and Wales against RA Engineering Co. Limited (until very recently Scomadi Motor Company Limited), Mr Yiming Chen and Moto GB Limited, in relation to a number of claims for infringement of registered designs, unregistered design, trade mark infringement and passing off.
“The background to this dispute is that Frank Sanderson [pictured right] and Paul Melici of Scomadi designed, promoted, engineered and conceived of a modern scooter which, although reminiscent of the golden days of classic scootering, is manufactured to the highest modern engineering standards. Its retro scooter is the subject of extensive intellectual property rights and protection.
“Scomadi believes that these rights are being serially infringed by the defendants and, as part of its effort to maintain the integrity of its intellectual property and its rights, it has commenced proceedings in England. Obviously the court process must take its due time and consideration and the defendants will have to explain their actions in the context of those proceedings. It is not proposed to make repeated public statements regarding this matter but it is important that all of Scomadi’s customers and distributors know that it is actively asserting its position and will continue to supply its unique, high-quality and specially conceived products to the international market.”