French automaker Renault fended off a lawsuit from families of the same name who complained it would bring ridicule on their relatives called Zoe by giving that forename to its new electric car.
Renault’s ZOE, which the firm registered as a trade mark when spelled in capital without the accent on the final “e” found in the French name, is a small zero-emissions car due to be released in 2012.
A lawyer for two Renault families, David Koubbi, argued in court that calling a car the Renault ZOE was a breach of the privacy and human dignity of people called Zoe Renault.
Judge Magali Bouvier decided however that the plaintiffs had no grounds to claim the car name caused them “direct and personal harm” and ruled that the carmaker could go ahead with the name.
Koubbi said the Renaults would appeal the decision, adding that the ruling “heralded the start of a battle.”
The company responded that it was “confident in the judicial procedures.”
“We don’t want to hear ‘It’s time for your oil change’ or ‘show us your airbags,’” Koubbi told the court last month, accusing the car firm of “stealing a child’s name to compensate for an under-performing car.”
“Industrialists, in order to humanize and market products, are turning names into brands,” Koubbi said. “So, if you’re lucky, you could end up as a pretty pot of flowers. If you’re not, you could end up as a whip, a vibrating dildo or a toilet brush.”
He said one family had changed the name of their three-year-old child to Margot after Renault brought out a car bearing the same name as the little girl — Clio.(afp)
法國汽車製造廠雷諾即將推出命名為Zoe（暫譯：柔伊，女性名稱）的新款電動車，卻遭到以此為名者的家人抗議，表示這會給她們帶來困擾，並對車廠採取法律行動。雷諾車廠近日成功擺脫這場官司。
雷諾將「ZOE」這三個字母註冊成商標，以大寫書寫時，最後的字母E上方沒有像法文中的女性名稱上，有代表特殊念法的一撇。這款廢氣零排放的車子將於二零一二年推出。
由兩個姓氏同為「雷諾」的家庭聘請的律師大衛‧顧比，於法庭上表示，將車輛命名為「雷諾‧柔伊」是個違反隱私權與人類尊嚴的作法。
然而法官瑪嘉莉‧布維耶認為原告並沒有立場主張這個車名給她們帶來「直接人身攻擊」，並裁定雷諾車廠得以繼續使用這個名字。
律師顧比表示，雷諾家族將上訴，並補充說，法院的裁決「不過是抗爭的開始」。
該公司回應表示，對「法院的司法程序有信心。」
顧比上個月在法庭上表示，「我們不希望聽到有人說『妳該更換機油了』、或者『妳的氣囊借我看看』，之類的說法。他並且指控汽車製造廠「為了粉飾車子的性能不佳而竊用兒童的名字」。
顧比說，「工業團體為了將商品人性化並行銷，就把人名變成商標。所以你幸運的話有可能會是一盆漂亮的花。如果運氣不好，你就變成一條鞭子，甚至是馬桶刷。」
他表示，有個家庭在得知雷諾先前推出車輛，與三歲女兒名字Clio相同的時候，便將女兒名字改為瑪歌（Margot）
（法新社／翻譯：吳岱璟）
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