VMI edged ahead of fellow shortlistee Comerio Ercole in what is said to be a very tight race to win Tire Industry Supplier of the Year for the second time. The 2017 award was received by Harm Voortman, VMI Group president and chief executive officer, at the TTX Award gala dinner on 15 February.
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.
The machine VMI calls a “new dawn for truck tyre building” will be launched next month. The VMI MILEXX, which draws upon the technological principles applied in the VMI MAXX car tyre builder, will be unveiled at Tire Technology Expo 2016.
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