Gran Turismo or Grand Touring in the automotive industry has always stood for comfortable, well-motorized sports cars that can cover very long distances, and for Sony's flagship racing game Gran Turismo, GT for short. Despite this general term, Sony sees its trademark rights infringed by Huawei and is suing.
Because Huawei carries smartwatches with the addition “GT”, such as the Huawei Watch GT (test) or the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro – this year Huawei did without the addition GT for the Watch 3 Pro.
GT only for Sony's racing game
The reason for the legal dispute is filed trademark applications for GT3 and GT5 from Huawei, against which Sony Interactive filed an objection at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in 2015 and in 2019, as it has its own racing game series Gran Turismo , also often only abbreviated with GT and the number for the respective part, wanted to protect. Initially, Sony lost because Huawei wanted to protect the brand only in the area of wearables, but another lawsuit in August this year was more successful and the previous decision was overturned. A new investigation and evaluation should now provide clarity. Sony is of the opinion that due to the racing game series, of which the next part for Sony's PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 will be released on March 4, 2022 with Gran Turismo 7 (GT7), Huawei is of the opinion that it has the sole rights to Gran Turismo claims that Sony cannot claim this.
Huawei applies for brand names in the UK
While Sony is filing a lawsuit against Huawei in the EU, Huawei is responding with trademark registrations for GT3, GT5, GT8 and GT10 in the UK, which is no longer part of the EU. The applications submitted to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) on September 27th again relate to the areas of wearables and watches. The Trademark Office has not yet made a decision.