A lawsuit brought in court by Citroën blocked the launch of Polestar on the French market, all due to the Scandinavian brand logo.
Citroën considers the Polestar logo to be excessively similar to its own and also to that of DS, and for this reason it decided to take legal action to rectify this situation.
Citroën's idea of going to court arose after several comments on the internet pointed out the supposed similarities between the logos of the three brands, with the process having been filed in July 2019.
On June 4 of this year, the French brand saw a court in Paris give it partial reason, since, although the court said that the Polestar logo was different from that of Citroën and DS and would hardly be confused, the truth is that it is composed of two elements with the same shape as the “chevrons” (although arranged in a different way). And if there is a brand that is known for being the (double) “chevrons” brand, it is Citroën.
Therefore, the court considered that Polestar could benefit, albeit indirectly, from the fame/image of the "chevrons" of Citroën. For what reason it also stated the following in the judgment: “The company POLESTAR PERFORMANCE damaged the reputation of the French marks nº 3422762 and nº 3841054 of which the company AUTOMOBILES CITROËN is the owner”.
In Portugal, Polestar is not yet available but the reasons are different. Check this video:
The consequences of the decision
The court ordered Polestar to pay €150,000 in damages to Citroën. But there is more. In addition to blocking or at least delaying the launch of Polestar on the French market, this court decision prohibits the Scandinavian brand from using its logo from three months after the decision, a ban that will last for a period of six months on French territory. Added to all this is the blocking of the brand's website on French territory.
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According to the French publication L’Automobile, anyone who tries to access the Polestar website in France is “gifted” with the following message:
Access to the Polestar website is not accessible to the French public due to territorial restrictions on the use of French trademarks n.º 016898173 and n.º 01689532.
For now, we still don't know which solution the Swedish brand will be working on to solve this problem. What we do know is that as long as it holds, it will be difficult to unlock the Polestar launch in France.
Sources: L’Automobile, Auto Motor und Sport.