Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) shares that a settlement has been reached in its patent infringement lawsuit against Timsum Rubber Tire (Weihai). SRI, which manufactures Dunlop tyres in certain regions outside Europe, filed a lawsuit with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court in response to unauthorised use of the Dunlop Geomax MX52 motocross tyre tread pattern.
Michelin North America, Inc., has agreed to settle lawsuits against Carlstar Group, LLC and former Michelin employee Michael Dotson. A court in the US state of South Carolina has permanently prohibited Dotson from using or revealing any Michelin trade secret or confidential information and ordered him to return any Michelin information in his possession. Dotson also agreed to pay Michelin the financial damages sought in the lawsuit, which accused him of misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of his non-disclosure agreement.
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 further victory for Bridgestone Corporation in its battle against patent infringement was delivered by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, which ruled favourably in its lawsuit against Chinese tyre manufacturer Fangxing Rubber Co., Ltd. (Fangxing).
A settlement has been reached between Michelin North America Inc. and Tire Mart Inc. regarding alleged design patent infringements. Terms of the settlement, which centres on design patents for the BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2, have not been disclosed.
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.
Florida, US-based tyre wholesaler Tire Group International LLC (TGI) has initiated legal proceedings against two companies, Amrik International Trading LLC and Neeto International General Trading LLC, and against all respective principles, including Sabjot Singh Sahni, Simar Singh Sahni, Jasbeer Singh Sahni, and Neeto Singh Sahni.
Michelin North America shares that it has “reached favourable settlement agreements” with Atturo Tire Corporation and Svizz-One Corporation Ltd., regarding the patent infringement suit it filed in the US District Court in Greenville, South Carolina on 13 May. The specific terms of the settlement are confidential.
In a unanimous verdict handed down on 19 November, a jury in the US state of Arizona found in favour of Michelin North America on all claims relating to a product liability lawsuit filed by plaintiff Kimberly Allen. The verdict followed a three-week trial in the Arizona State Court.
The lawyers defending 11 former Pirelli managers convicted over asbestos-related deaths say they will appeal the charges. Yesterday a court in Milan convicted the managers of culpable homicide over the deaths of 24 workers employed at the company’s Bicocca plant in the 1970s and 1980s. The employees died from tumours said to have developed due to exposure from asbestos at the facility.
The US District Court in Delaware has dismissed the class action against Cooper Tire & Rubber that followed the unsuccessful Apollo Tyres acquisition attempt. The lawsuit, which was filed in January 2014, alleged the tyre maker, along with CEO Roy Armes and CFO Bradley Hughes, violated US federal securities laws by misrepresenting its financial condition, financial prospects, and the effectiveness of its internal controls. The action was filed by law firms Entwistle & Cappucci LLP and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP on behalf of Cooper Tire investors OFI Risk Arbitrages, OFI Risk Arb Absolu and Timber Hill L.L.C.
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.
A settlement has been reached between Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations and Houston-based TreadWright and TreadWright Tires regarding the alleged infringement of Bridgestone’s licensed design patent rights.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has filed a patent infringement and unfair trade practices suit against US based retreader and price-driven online tyre retailer TreadWright, claiming the company copied the tread design on its Dueler A/T Revo tyre, which is protected by a 2003 patent. According to Bridgestone, TreadWright initially used the design on its Sentinel tyre. After it issued a cease-and-desist letter to the company in 2013, TreadWright stopped selling that tyre and released a new tyre, called the Watchman, which, according to Bridgestone, had the same tread design.
