India's Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. is no longer permitted to sell its Roxor off-road utility vehicle after a U.S. regulator ruled the vehicles too closely resembles the Toledo-built Jeep Wrangler.
Late Thursday, the International Trade Commission said Mahindra violated the "trade dress" of the Wrangler after investigating the matter for nearly two years. The ITC issued a limited exclusion order that prohibits the sale or import of the Roxor, and sent a cease and desist order to Mahindra and its North American unit.
Unique characteristics to a vehicle — such as the Wrangler's body style, grille, and round headlights — are considered trade dress, or features widely accepted to be identified with a specific product.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles released a brief statement to The Blade Friday on the ruling:
"FCA is pleased with the USITC decision in this matter. We want to study the decision before commenting further.”
Mahindra maintained FCA's claims were unsubstantiated. The company did not immediately issue comment on the judgment.
The Roxor is assembled in Auburn Hills, Mich.
FCA filed a complaint with the ITC in August, 2018. The complaint alleged that certain design features of Mahindra's Roxor vehicle infringed on the Jeep design and violated FCA’s intellectual property rights.
A Blade reporter’s visit in March, 2018, to Auburn Hills and the Mahindra Automotive North America plant where the Roxor is made noted the Roxor does have some similar design attributes as an older Jeep Wrangler.
It has round headlamps and flat fenders, a torquey four-cylinder engine, and no-nonsense simplicity, much like an old-school Jeep, The Blade report said. But it does not not have the Wrangler's signature seven-slot grille.
The Roxor, which is not street legal, is meant for off-road use on farms, to get sportsmen to hunting and fishing grounds, or give recreational off-road enthusiasts another option. It debuted in March, 2018, starting at $15,500.
Mahindra was among the first companies that Toledo-based Willys, which made the original Jeep Wranglers, granted a licensing agreement to make a variant of the post-war civilian Jeep.
Mahindra began producing such a vehicle in 1949 and never ceased doing so with the company still building CJ-3B Wrangler derivatives well into the 21st century.
Information from Blade news services was used in this report.
First Published June 12, 2020, 7:35 p.m.
