China’s Great Wall Motors Co Ltd is suing Italian car maker Fiat for allegedly stealing its business secrets.

The case appears to be the second round in a battle that began when Fiat accused Great Wall of copying one of its cars in 2007.

In the latest barrage, Great Wall Motor, a Chinese sport utility vehicle maker based in Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, said Fiat sent spies to its engineering center and took pictures of its first subcompact car, the Peri, while it was under development before its release in 2007. (Shanghai Daily)

What can I say here? The first thing that comes to mind is that the lawyers working for GWM are lucky that they are filing a suit in China and not in a jurisdiction like the US, where they would be subject to Rule 11 (or state equivalent) sanctions against lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits.

In the new complaint, Liu Hongkai, an attorney for Great Wall, said the evidence shows Fiat illegally visited Great Wall’s engineering center in 2007 and collected information on the Peri.

“They could have gotten other important research and development secrets as well,” Liu told Shanghai Daily in a telephone interview yesterday.

Yeah, sure. Did the Fiat guys break in at night and steal information like the Watergate burglars? Kinda doubt it.

And “they could have gotten other important research” sounds awful. Monkeys could fly out of my butt too, but I don’t think a judge would believe me if I asserted that possibility in court.

In its suit, the Chinese car maker is demanding a public apology and 100,000 yuan (US$14,649) in compensation. Liu acknowledged the amount was relatively small but said it might be difficult to judge the value of any secrets stolen.

Well, yes, the value of trade secrets is notoriously difficult to determine. But if the damages here are going to be in the neighborhood of RMB 100,000, then what’s the point of the case? No demand to discontinue doing something, just a public apology — meaning that this is simply a ploy to make Fiat look bad.

This is really lame, folks. GWM lost Round 1 to Fiat and is looking for some payback. They filed this stupid claim at the local Intermediate Court, knowing that they were playing to the home crowd/judge.

Not only does this make GWM look bad, but depending on how all this ends up, the taint may also rub off on the Shijiazhuang court as well.