Vespa: the Supreme Court protects the shape with copyright

The shape of the Wasp it is unique and will remain so. It is an icon and no one will be able to copy it, as decided by the Court of Cassation, definitively, in a ruling dated November 28th. The Supreme Court has decided that the form of this iconic model it can "be considered an intellectual work and therefore be protected by copyright".

Not just the historical model

The new ruling confirmed it in full what has already been established by the two previous levels of judgement attributing decisive value to the recognitions in the artistic, not merely industrial, environment that the Vespa has received for its creative and artistic qualities.

Piaggio will have the copyright not only on the historic Vespa, i.e. the one dating back to 1946, but also on "all subsequent processing operated by the same author which are recognized as a direct emanation of the first model". Consequently, there cannot be unauthorized replicas, not even of special series or updates that have occurred over the years.

The battle with the Chinese Znen

The legal battle was continued with the arrival on the market of Ves, created by the Chinese group Znen. The model is practically a replica of the Vespa, also registered in Europe a few years ago. Piaggio immediately appealed, after the authorization was granted by the European Union office for intellectual property, and now this battle has been definitively closed in favor of the Italian company. The Vespa is unique and cannot be copied or registered by others.