Yokohama Reaches Settlement in Patent Suit

Yokohama Tire Corp. and Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. have reached a final settlement agreement with Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. Ltd. pertaining to design patent infringement, with Hangzhou agreeing to destroy the manufacturing moulds and remaining inventory of its Westlake H280 tyres. In September 2006, Yokohama Tire Corp. and its parent company initiated legal proceedings against China’s Hangzhou alleging, among other claims, a violation of Yokohama’s tyre tread design patent which protects some of its best-selling lines, including the Geolandar A/T+II.

“When another company encroaches on our intellectual property, we’ll passionately defend our rights,” said Jim MacMaster, executive vice president of Yokohama Tire Corp. “Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery. However, our success in this grievance against Hangzhou shows other tyre manufacturers that, when it comes to stealing our industry-leading tyre designs, we’ll assertively enforce our patent and trademark rights.”

The settlement stipulates that:

• Hangzhou destroys manufacturing moulds of the Westlake H280 tyres and provides Yokohama with an affidavit confirming the destruction and a clear photo of the destroyed moulds

• Hangzhou stops all shipments and sales of the Westlake H280 tyres worldwide and destroys any remaining inventory of the tyre

• Hangzhou pays Yokohama a cash settlement. (Tire Review/Akron)