After leaving the company that bore his name, Fisker Automotive, and returning to automotive design, Henrik Fisker set to work on a new conceptual coupe which was unveiled at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance earlier this year. Called the Thunderbolt Concept, the car is a beautiful flow of design work that looks very reminiscent of the Aston Martin Vanquish. So much so that the British carmaker is suing Fisker for infringement.
The lawsuit claims that Fisker’s Thunderbolt design infringes on their trademark designs for their own vehicles, saying that the design stems from a concept the designer approached them with in November last year hoping for cooperation with the build. Called “Project Thunderbolt” at the time, the lawsuit alleges that Fisker had wanted to create his own design of the Vanquish and had used the actual Vanquish as his base design to which he added his own elements. Aston Martin did not approve the project, however, and says that Fisker has gone ahead with it anyway, illegally utilizing their intellectual property in the process.
Interestingly, though, Aston Martin refutes Fisker’s claim that a “limited run” of the Thunderbolt could be made for sale, which Fisker hinted to at the Concours. The Thunderbolt was presented in “cooperation” with Galpin Aston Martin, a dealership in Los Angeles, and Aston Martin further alleges that this breaches the dealers’ contract, which allows only for “genuine Aston Martin vehicles.”
So far, Fisker has not publicly responded to the allegations or the lawsuit.
