An import company has been ordered to stop distributing Kia and Hyundai car parts after a court ruled it was not authorised to do so.
Mobis Parts Europe NV and Cars International told the First Hall of the Civil Court that it was a subsidiary of the Hyundai Group and was authorised to exclusively distribute Hyundai and KIA spare parts in Europe, including Malta.
It represented the Hyundai and Kia groups, owners of the Hyundai and Kia trademarks, both of which were registered locally.
Mobis complained before Madam Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland that DMD Autoparts and Daniel Zerafa were importing and selling spare parts without authorisation. The accessories being imported were not intended for the European market but for Asia.
DMD and Mr Zerafa insisted they did not violate any rights pertaining to Mobis. The judge noted that Mobis was authorised to represent both Hyundai and Kia trademarks in Malta.
However, Mobis had failed to exhibit its exclusivity agreement with Hyundai and Kia with respect to the distribution of the spare parts in Europe.
The written agreement would have constituted the best evidence of its claims.
The court felt it could not prohibit DMD and/or Mr Zerafa from supplying and distributing the parts on the basis of indirect evidence. However, the same could not be said about Mobis’s position as representative of the trademarks in issue.
Mobis exhibited powers of attorney in terms of which it was authorised to protect Hyundai and Kia’s trademark rights in all of Europe, including Malta.
Madam Justice Schembri Orland noted that the spare parts imported and distributed by DMD and Mr Zerafa were destined for the Korean market. Parts destined for the Korean market were packaged in blue and carried Korean text and a hologram.
There was different packaging for the European market, with just the logo and no hologram.
Furthermore, parts destined for the European market had to comply with EU regulations.
The court concluded that Mobis had proven, on a prima facie level of proof required for the issue of a warrant, that DMD and Mr Zerafa were importing parts against the will of the trademark owners, Hyundai and Kia.
It therefore upheld Mobis’s request and stopped DMD and Mr Zerafa from importing or distributing the spare parts.