Volvo’s Polestar BANNED from France for Citroen trademark ‘infringement’

French courts have banned Polestar from sale in France because of a dispute over infringement of Citroen’s logo design.

The new Polestar 2 looks a very appealing electric car, although Polestar has had a couple of unfortunate recalls for teething troubles, and seems to be selling well, and certainly well enough to be helpful to the Volvo Group’s average CO2 targets for 2020.

But Polestar is a new brand, even if it is difficult to really separate it from its Volvo roots, and new brands can have problems. But one we didn’t see coming is that it’s logo looks just like that of another car maker.

According to action taken by Citroen in France, the Polestar logo infringes their copyright because it consists of two chevrons, despite the fact that the Polestar logo has the chevrons ‘pointing’ at each other and the Citroen logo has them stacked.

But French courts can be very parochial and have sided with Citroen in this case, banning Polestar from selling in France for six months to allow the parties to reach an agreement, and fined Polestar €150,000, according to Connection France.

As a result, if you try to go to the Polestar website in France you’re greeted with:

Access to the Polestar site is not accessible to the French public due to territorial restrictions on the use of French trademarks n°016898173 and n°01689532. If you need any assistance, we can be reached at: +800-707 088 22.

Which all seems a bit daft.