Shengtai Group has to pay huge damages to Bridgestone for infringement of patent design. To ensure the safety and reliability of products and maintaining and enhancing its hard-earned brand value Bridgestone filed a case against Shengtai Group and Shandong Shengshi Tailai Rubber Technology Co., Ltd. ("Shengtai") for design patent infringement. The allegations were on the basis of patent design infringement of BLIZZAK VRX studless tire for passenger cars.
A design patent is a form of intellectual property protection which allows an inventor to protect the original shape or surface ornamentation of a useful manufactured article. The Patent Law of the Republic of China provides that the owner of a design patent may prevent third parties from making, offering for sale, selling or importing a product that incorporates, the patented design, for purposes of production or business, without the consent of the rights’ holder.
Generally speaking, the protection of an invention patent covers both the process and product characters. The utility patent covers most technical fields of product character, except for sonic, light, electric and gas requirements acting on the human body. Finally, the design patent covers only characteristics such as shape, colour, etc.
Bridgestone is headquartered in Tokyo and is the world’s largest tire and Rubber Company. The “BRIDGESTONE” and “Bridgestone” brands are trademarks that the plaintiff has registered with a high reputation. Studless tires are designed to grip even on snowy or frozen road surfaces, so it is an item that must be there in order to travel safely in a car in the area where snowfalls. VRX take different characteristics and excellent integrated performance. It has an ice brake to safely-stop on an icy road. Its good mileage makes it easy to roll over of tire. Additionally, it safely-stop and turns on a wet road.
After the victory of a lawsuit against Shengtai Group in April 2019, it is the second case of infringement against Shengtai. Shengtai Group is located in Xishui, Guangrao County, Shandong Province, No. 1 Village for Tyres in China, and the largest tyre manufacturing base in Shandong Province. Bridgestone took steps to provide consumers with safe and reliable products and to protect consumers against unsafe counterfeit.
Bridgestone alleged that Shengai Group counterfeited the patented tread pattern of BLIZZAK VRX studless tire. Tread pattern referred to the design moulded into the section of the tire that comes into direct contact with the road's surface
In April 2019, it had won another design patent infringement case brought against Shengtai, relating to the tread pattern on Bridgestone’s ST3000 truck tyre. The court also awarded damages of RMB 800,000 ($111,939) to Bridgestone. The Court issued a “favourable ruling”, and ordered Shengtai and SSTRT to dispose of the moulds for the infringing tyres.
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