A Bugatti with a vacuum cleaner under the hood?
Chinese company Dreame Technology, best known for its high-tech hair dryers, lawn mowers and especially vacuum cleaners, recently made a surprising announcement.
Dreame declared its ambition to compete with hypercar makers like Bugatti. Dreame even claimed it wants to build the world’s fastest car—by adapting the powerful motors from its vacuum cleaners for use in cutting-edge electric supercars.
Perhaps even more remarkable: reportedly, the founder and CEO of Dreame posted images on Chinese social media of a futuristic-looking car, suggesting that that was the design he had in mind:
Any sports car enthusiast immediately recognises the iconic appearance of the extremely exclusive Bugatti Chiron. The horseshoe-shaped grille, the ridge on the roof and hood and the C-shaped line curving from the floor along the door to the windshield are exactly the same as those on the famous model of the French luxury carmaker. The new car appears longer and might even have four doors but otherwise bears a striking resemblance to Bugatti’s racing machine.
The similarities are so overwhelming that several journalists speculated there must be a collaboration between Bugatti and Dreame, especially since there were talks of a new factory in Europe.
Bugatti, however, is owned by Rimac, which makes its own electric cars and is also linked to Porsche and the Volkswagen Group, making a partnership with the vacuum cleaner manufacturer highly unlikely. But can Dreame simply build a car that so strongly resembles one of the world’s most expensive road cars?
From a legal perspective, Bugatti has taken multiple steps to protect its brand and design. The name Bugatti Chiron is registered as a word mark, and the famous grille design is protected as a figurative mark. However, Bugatti does not hold an EU trademark specifically for the shape of the car as a whole. That said, the design is still safeguarded in other ways. Bugatti has dozens of registered designs covering individual elements of the car’s appearance. In addition, copyright or the doctrine of unfair competition could also be invoked.
We suspect that the social media post was mainly intended to generate publicity, perhaps even to distract from recent controversy regarding working conditions at the company. But should the Chinese manufacturer truly attempt to bring this car to life, it can presumably expect a strong response from Bugatti.
Author: Dennis Bruikman
Bio: After studying intellectual property law, Dennis joined Knijff and he is currently pursuing the BBMM qualification to become a certified trademark attorney. He works in the team of Erik Stegeman and he has a keen interest in tech, sports and (board)games.