Bridgestone Corporation announced that on July 5, 2019, that it had received a favorable ruling in the design patent infringement lawsuit against major Chinese tire manufacturers Guangzhou South China Tire & Rubber and Wanli Tire.
In October 2015, Bridgestone filed the lawsuit claiming that tire manufacturing and sales activities conducted by Wanli Tire utilized the tread pattern of the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2 tire for SUVs, and that these activities were therefore in violation of Bridgestone’s patent rights. In May 2017, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court ruled in favor of Bridgestone. Wanli Tire appealed the decision to the Shanghai High People’s Court, which upheld the lower court’s decision.
As a result of the decision, Wanli Tire was ordered to cease violation of Bridgestone’s patent rights and pay damages to Bridgestone in an amount of 600,000 Chinese yuan (US$84,700).
