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GM Sues Avanti Motors for Hummer H2 Knock-Off

Rip-off or not a rip-off.  Figure out for yourself. Avanti's Studebaker XUV debuts at the Chicago Motor Show.

General Motors Corporation, after surviving a legal debacle about the origins of the Hummer H2's grille has now found itself suing another company for copying the lines of its famed SUV.

The Detroit-based company has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Avanti Motors Corporation, saying that the latter's new Studebaker XUV too closely resembles GM's Hummer H2 sport utility vehicle.

GM said in a statement last Friday that the Studebaker XUV, which debuted at the Chicago Motor Show, "knocks off and misappropriates the shape" of the Hummer H2.

GM trademark attorney Charles Ellerbrock said "the Studebaker XUV is so similar to the H2 that the public will be confused by the knock off the H2. GM will not allow its world-famous trademark rights to be violated."

The Georgia-based Avanti Corporation is expected to release a statement any time soon. Meanwhile, GM is seeking a preliminary injunction enjoining Avanti Motors from manufacturing, advertising and selling the Studebaker XUV.

Months prior to the launch of the Hummer H2, GM found itself in a legal dispute with DaimlerChrysler AG's Jeep division over the vertical slats of the H2's grille. The former won the right to use the grille on its USD 48,000 SUV.

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