Exactly - I mean BMW has it. But so does Lexus and Lincoln and even some KIAs and Hyundais. The article says it was there even before BMW introduced it in 1961...
My point being that something which is not originated by BMW, and is present on every other car - how can it be a BMW trademark?
Its like saying ''all BMW's have seats since 1986, so seats are a BMW trademark''
I'm missing something I know. And would be relieved if you help me catch the ''ramz'' you guys have already caught.
[/quote]
Naa naah!! I am perfectly patient! I didnt know what to tell you since I had the Idea what you had in mind!! 
Now; BMW you see..BMW ...You know BMW is a company with a history!! Whereas The Koreans you are talking about dont have...this does not makes much snese!!
Remember BMW 507; That car dragged the company to a bankruptcy bank in late 50s....1500 and later variants were the cars which saved the company!! Now 1500 was one of the
"first"
car AFAIK had that shape of a C-Pillar. Later all the BMWs had them to thise date and even teh concepts have that shaped pillar. So you can safely call it as the BMW trademark.
It is not necessary that you call the Koreans that they Copied BMW, But it can be an inspiration!!
The person who actually wrote the particular article;
Joel Sutherland leads operations at NMC where he has launched over 250 sites and served as lead developer on the company's CMS which serves millions of unique visits each year. Joel has an Honors Degree in Computer Science from UNC Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead Scholar.
Here you can read the main article:
h3The Hofmeister Kink: A Lasting BMW Design Detail - New Media Campaigns/h3
