A second law suit has been filed in the continuing clash between US manufacturers Aviat Aircraft and Roy LoPresti over a new two-seat sport aircraft based on a 1946 Globe Aircraft design.
The legal dispute began in April, when Aviat filed an infringement suit against LoPresti claiming that LoPresti's SwiftFury single violates trade mark and "trade dress" laws. The Afton, Wyoming-based company objected to the use of the title SwiftFury and the physical form of the aircraft. LoPresti has renamed the aircraft the Fury.
In mid-June, Vero Beach, Florida-based LoPresti responded with a counter law suit alleging that Aviat illegally appropriated design data and parts from the original LoPresti Piper SwiftFury design for its 135kW (180hp) two-seat Millennium Swift.
"The LoPresti derivative's resemblance to the original Swift and Aviat's Millennium Swift [both licensed to Aviat] is enough to create market confusion," says Aviat owner and president Stuart Horne. "This issue is comparable to what would happen if Pepsi bottled its beverage in a container shaped like the original Coca-Cola bottle."
Aviat concedes that, although the products might differ internally, the outside appearance is so similar that there could be confusion. The Millennium Swift and LoPresti Fury are due for certification in the first and fourth quarter of 2001, respectively.
Meanwhile, Aviat plans to display for the first time its Monocoupe 110 Special at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture '99 convention later this month. The single-engined aircraft, a revival of the 1930s' Monocoupe 10 racer, is powered by a 150kW (200hp) fuel-injected Textron Lycoming IO-360 and has a projected cruise speed of 160kt (300km/h). Aviat also plans to install a full gyro panel and a modern avionics suite.
Certification and first delivery are planned for the fourth quarter of the year.
Source: Flight International
