Audi has successfully sued Chinese manufacturer Nio over using the ES 6, ES 7, and ES 8 nameplates on its electric vehicles. The premium automaker alleged that Nio's naming conventions sounded too similar to Audi's models, like the S6 and S8 luxury sport sedans, reports Automobilwoche.

A Munich regional court agreed, with the First Chamber for Commercial Matters stating that even though Nio's lettering differs from Audi's well-known trademarks, it's not distinctive enough.

"Both brands would be mentally connected, at least from a phonetic point of view, which, taking into account the average distinctiveness of the trademark in [the] suit and the existing identity of the goods, would lead to an indirect risk of confusion," the ruling stated.

This battle of the brands stretches back to last year when news broke of Audi's intention to take Nio to court. The Ingolstadt-based manufacturer alleged that Nio had overstepped the mark. "The opponent chose model designations for the European market, which, in our opinion, infringes Audi brands," said a representative at the time.

According to the court's reasoning, there's reason to believe that consumers may assume Nio's ES 6, ES 7, and ES 8 models are electric versions of Audi's models and that the vehicles all hail from the same manufacturer. "There is, therefore, a transfer danger of confusion through association that goes beyond pure association."

It's not over for Nio, though, as this is only the first instance of the court case. Nio is expected to overturn this in a higher court but is prohibited from advertising these models in Germany for the time being. Interestingly, Nio has already renamed the ES7 as the EL7.

Regardless, Audi is pleased with the result and told Automobilwoche that it welcomes the judgment.

"This judgment confirms that the disputed model designations infringe Audi trademark rights. Many of our models have an iconic character - for us and for our customers. This also and especially applies to our sporty S models. It is therefore a matter of course for us to protect valuable intellectual property associated therewith," a spokesperson said.

Nio told the publication that it aims to appeal and reserves the right to take all necessary further steps in this regard."

Chinese car companies have an unfortunate history of copying Western designs, often with catastrophic results. The Hongqi H9 luxury sedan, for example, bears a striking resemblance to the outgoing BMW 7 Series but is far from the worst we've seen.