Michelin suing Atturo over alleged patent infringement

On 13 May Michelin North America, Inc. filed suit against Atturo Tire Corporation and Svizz-One Corporation Ltd. alleging the companies infringed a design patent covering the Michelin Latitude tyre tread design.

Michelin filed the lawsuit in US District Court for the District of South Carolina in Greenville, South Carolina. The suit alleges that two tyre models – the Atturo AZ600 and the Thunderer Ranger 007 – infringe the company’s patented tread design (US patent D483,322).

The Atturo tyres in question are manufactured by Svizz-One in Thailand for the US market. Svizz-One reports that it manufactures its products at the Deestone factory in Thailand.

“This lawsuit demonstrates Michelin’s legal strategy to protect the intellectual property created by its 6,000 research and development employees and an annual R&D investment of about US$700 million dollars,” said Michelin vice president of research and development Paul Grosskopf.