Honda Motor Co. has filed a case at the Delhi High Court accusing Hero Electric of infringing the former’s registered design of a scooter

As per the filing, Honda alleges that the Hero Dash electric scooter resembles its Moove, a scooter which was on sale in select Asian markets (India not included) until 2017. The Japanese two wheeler giant is seeking restriction on manufacturing, selling or advertising the Hero Electric Dash. The company has also submitted relevant design registration numbers which are dated December 24, 2014. That’s well before the Hero Dash was introduced.

It is being reported that, following Honda’s filing, the Delhi High Court initiated a hearing via video conference on May 29. Based on the hearing, Hero Electric, the defendant, was originally allowed to submit a response on June 2 but that session has now been postponed to June 11.

It is to be noted that Hero Electric has no association with Hero Motocorp which is also pursuing the electric two wheeler segment. Hero Electric is one of the front runners in the Indian electric scooter segment and has over 500 outlets across the country. However, the entity does not engineer, design and develop its product completely in-house. It relies on international vendors for its products including the Dash.

Hero Electric’s portfolio has over 10 products but this is the first time the company is being sued for infringement by a major automotive brand. Comparing the images of the Hero Electric Dash and Honda Moove, it is plainly apparent that the former imitate the latter’s styling a very high degree. In fact, the two scooters are almost identical and one would be hard pressed to spot the differences!

It would be interesting to hear what Hero Electric has to say about the startling resemblance of its Dash to one of Honda’s now-defunct products. The outcome of this legal battle could led to significant redesigning of the scooter in question before it could be on sale again.

The Hero Electric Dash is a low-speed scooter which does not require license and registration. It is equipped with a 250W electric motor and a 48V, 28 Ah lithium ion battery which can be fully charged in 4-5 hours. The scooter is claimed to have a top speed of 25 kmph and a range of 60 km. Salient features include alloy wheels, digital instrument cluster, telescopic front forks and drum brakes.

As of now, Hero Electric’s website continues to feature the Dash’s product page, but it has been de-linked from the ‘product’ section on the homepage.