Chinese court victory for Bridgestone design lawsuit

A court in China has ruled in favour of Bridgestone Corporation, determining that two Chinese companies, Jianxin Rubber (Fujian) Co. Ltd and PT.Beststone Rubber Industries Co. Ltd., infringed the Japanese tyre maker’s design rights. The Zhengzhou Higher People’s Court ruled that a pre-cure tread the companies manufactured and sold for truck and bus tyres violated Bridgestone’s design rights.

Bridgestone originally filed the lawsuit with the Zhengzhou Intermediate People’s Court in September 2011, claiming that a bus and truck tyre tread pattern made by the companies violated a pattern that Bridgestone holds the right to use for car tyres. The ruling, made in October 2014, confirmed the use of this pattern as an indirect violation of Bridgestone’s car tyre use design rights under Article 38 of the Design Act of Japan. The Zhengzhou Higher People’s Court ordered the two companies to pay Bridgestone damages for this design violation.