Zisser Banned from Selling Wanli S-1099

A US court has banned wholesaler Zisser Tire from selling Wanli S-1099 tyres, which, according to Yokohama’s infringe its trademarks. In a statement the company reports that, the United States District Court in Los Angeles has entered a permanent injunction in favour of Yokohama Tire Corporation and its parent company Yokohama Rubber Company. As part of the ruling the Zisser Tire paid damages.

The ruling refers to the Wanli S-1099 tyre which is alleged to infringe on the trademarks and patents of Yokohama’s AVS Sport tyre due to the similarity of it appearance. In total two permanent injunctions have been made, which Yokohama says should remove the infringing tyres from the US marketplace. Yokohama now plans to proceed to take legal action against Wanli manufacturer, South China Tire.

“We sued all known entities who were distributing the product in the US,” said Jim MacMaster, Yokohama´s executive vice president. “We are very satisfied with the entry of these permanent injunctions by the court and we will continue to aggressively protect our patents and trademarks. The appearance of the Wanli S-1099 tyre in the US caused confusion in the market, among dealers and consumers, which had a detrimental effect on Yokohama Tire,” he added.

In Europe, Wanli tyres are distributed by Belgian wholesaler, Deldo.