The Hamburg Regional Court has confirmed that certain Aeolus branded tires infringe an EU design patent of Continental in its December 2018 ruling.
Continental had filed a complaint in 2016 concerning the Aeolus ATR 33 and Neo Allroads T+ truck tires advertised and sold in Europe by tire wholesaler Heuver Bandengroothandel. Their profile showed design elements similar to those developed by Continental for its HTR 2 tires, which are protected by EU law (registered Community design).
Among other issues, the ruling covered a prohibition of sales of the affected Aeolus tires, a claim for damages and a claim for the recall of tires already sold by Heuver. After the ruling, Heuver and Continental reached an out-of-court settlement that also covers the claims listed by Continental in the ruling.
Constantin Batsch, responsible for the truck tire replacement market for the EMEA region, Continental, said, “We continually invest in research and development so that we can offer our customers innovative and high-performance products. As such, Continental takes any unauthorized use of its patents, brands and other intellectual property rights or infringements of these extremely seriously, and will continue to enforce its rights by legal means in future.”
