Brand protection is the most important asset that a company owns these days. Mercedes-Benz also lives from the protection of its brand and sets an example in terms of trademark law by destroying a replica body. The legendary body shape of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is trademarked in favor of Daimler AG. The legal situation does not allow this body to be placed on the market. It had been confiscated by German customs and was destroyed. Mercedes-Benz destroys gullwings to deter imitators.
Anyone who manufactures, sells or distributes replicas of the classic violates the rights of the company. This also applies if no word or figurative marks of the company are used for the replicas. Daimler AG has been taking vigorous action against such replicas for a long time.
Mercedes-Benz destroys gullwings
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL from the W 198 series is one of the most famous automobiles in the world. In 1954 it came onto the market as a coupé with its famous gullwing doors. In 1999, an international jury named it the “Sports Car of the Century”. Today, the original Gullwing, along with the Roadster variant introduced in 1957, is one of the most sought-after vehicles in the world.
As a work of applied art, the body of the 300 SL enjoys copyright protection for several decades to come. The employees who designed the famous "Gullwing" in the 1950s granted Daimler AG comprehensive rights to use it. In addition, the body shape is also protected by trademark law in favor of the company.
In a specific case, a company based in Germany illegally manufactured a replica of a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. First, the body and chassis were separated from each other. The body was destroyed by the Mercedes-Benz Used Parts Center, which is also responsible for the scrapping of all Mercedes-Benz Prototypes from the development areas is responsible.
The certified system used there works with two presses and a good 30 tons of pressure each. In the case of the gullwing replica, it was a fiberglass body weighing exactly 148 kilograms that was broken down into fragments by the compression system. The end of the illegally copied body was officially recorded with a "scrapping confirmation" as well as a stamp and signature.