A court in China has ruled in Bridgestone Corporation’s favour in a design right infringement lawsuit against tyre makers Shandong Huasheng Rubber Co., Ltd. (Huasheng) and Shandong Hongsheng Rubber Co., Ltd. (Hongsheng).
It isn’t just idle words when Bridgestone says it “takes seriously any unauthorised use or infringement of its patents, trademarks or any other intellectual property.” A fortnight after reporting that a Chinese court ruled in its favour in a patent infringement lawsuit Wanli Tire, the tyre maker shares it has received a favourable ruling from the Intermediate People’s Court in Qingdao. The ruling relates to its design patent infringement lawsuit against Chinese firm Shengtai Group and its subsidiary, Shandong Shengshi Tai Lai Rubber Technology Co., Ltd.
A Chinese court has ruled in favour of Bridgestone Corporation in its patent infringement lawsuit against Chinese tyre manufacturers Guangzhou South China Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. and Wanli Tire Co., Ltd. (Wanli Tire).
A German court has ruled that certain Aeolus truck tyres infringe an EU design patent held by Continental. The matter has been resolved by an out-of-court settlement that covers damages and a recall of the products in question.
Bridgestone says it “takes seriously any unauthorised use or infringement of its patents, design rights, trademarks, or any other intellectual property,” and in the past the tyre maker has shown itself willing to legally challenge such infringements. It has now announced another court victory: Bridgestone has received a favourable ruling from the Beijing Intellectual Property Court in its design rights infringement lawsuit against major Chinese tyre manufacturer Shengtai Group.
After almost eight years, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (SRI) has won the lawsuit it filed against Italian manufacturer TEK Automotive S.r.l. concerning the infringement of SRI’s patents on emergency tyre puncture repair kit technology.
On 26 September, Michelin North America, Inc., filed suit against Tire Mart Inc., doing business as Braven Off-Road, alleging the company has infringed a design patent covering the BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 tyre.
It isn’t just copycats in China that the tyre majors are going after. Michelin North America reports that it filed a lawsuit against Tire Recappers of Nashville yesterday. Michelin alleges that the manufacturer and seller of retreaded SUV, crossover and crossover tyres infringed design patents covering the BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 and Michelin LTX M/S2 tyres.
A Chinese court has ruled in favour of Bridgestone Corporation in a lawsuit filed against the country’s largest privately-owned tyre maker, Triangle Tyre Co., Ltd. The case involved Triangle Tyre’s use of a tread pattern that shared more than a passing resemblance to an existing Bridgestone pattern.
In April 2015, machinery manufacturer VMI shared that the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China had upheld a patent infringement claim it lodged against Shuangjun Plastic and Rubber Machinery Ltd; the Chinese firm had infringed a key patent related to VMI’s tyre building drum and was passing off this copied product as its own property. VMI has now issued another statement in which it emphasises that it “continues to enforce against IP infringement.” While no specific new cases are named in this latest statement, it may well be that VMI is warning companies not to even think about infringing the intellectual property contained within its new and soon to be released MILEXX truck tyre building machine.
To loosely paraphrase the 2012 Taylor Swift song, Sentury Tires America is never, ever getting back together with the CLV6 tyre. In a statement released 19 February, Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc. shared that Sentury has “agreed to never produce the original CLV6 tyre that was displayed at the 2012 SEMA Show or any tyre with a similar tread design” as part of the settlement it has reached with Toyo. The CLV6 was viewed by Toyo as an infringement of its United States design patent for the tread design used on its Nitto Motivo tyre.
Netherlands-based machinery manufacturer VMI Group says a ruling is expected soon in the case of a Chinese company caught making illegal replicas of VMI tyre building drums. Commenting on the incident, company president and CEO Harm Voortman said vigorously protecting intellectual property is “an essential part” of VMI’s strategy.
In its final determination on the tyre design patent infringement complaint that was filed by Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. and Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas on 20 September 2013, the US International Trade Commission issued limited exclusion orders and cease-and-desist orders to the eight remaining respondents. These orders prohibit them from importing or selling any infringing tyres. Each respondent was found to be in default and in violation of the law prior to the 28 July determination.
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