China Regulator Deals Setback to JLR's Patent Infringement Claim
June 21 2016 - 9:30AM
Dow Jones News
SHANGHAI—Tata Motors Ltd.'s Jaguar Land Rover suffered a setback
in its effort to win a lawsuit against a Chinese auto maker that it
says infringed a design patent for its Range Rover Evoque
crossover.
China's State Intellectual Property Office has revoked both
Jaguar Land Rover's patent for its Evoque as well as that for
Jiangling Motors Co.'s Landwind X7 SUV, according to statements
from the patent re-examination board posted earlier this month on
its website.
Jaguar Land Rover had filed a lawsuit against Jiangling Motors,
claiming that its Landwind X7 copied the design of its popular
Evoque and that the Chinese company's behavior amounted to unfair
competition, the company said Tuesday, without disclosing when the
lawsuit was filed.
However, as JLR registered the design of the Evoque a year after
its debut in the country, the patent it obtained is invalid because
the design had been known to the public before its registration,
according a statement posted on the website of China's patent
re-examination board.
The request to invalidate JLR's patent was filed by Jiangling
last year, said the statement.
In a separate statement, the patent re-examination board also
revoked the Landwind X7's patent, at the request of JLR, saying
that the Landwind X7's design isn't significantly different from
JLR's Evoque.
The X7 bears striking similarities to the Evoque. It made its
first appearance at a motor show in China's southern city of
Guangzhou at the end of 2014, four years after JLR first brought
its Evoque to the same motor show.
The Landwind X7 went on sale last year and quickly attracted
buyers with its low price. In China, a Landwind X7 starts at
129,800 yuan ($19,700)—less than a third of the price of a Range
Rover Evoque.
The companies could still appeal the board's decision.
A spokeswoman for JLR declined to comment on the decision by the
Chinese regulator. Officials at Landwind, and its shareholders
Jiangling and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. weren't immediately
available for comment.
JLR is now in a weaker position in the lawsuit unless it is able
to bring forward proof to persuade Chinese judges that the Evoque
has enough recognition among consumers without its logo present,
said Dong Wentao, a lawyer with Allbright Law Offices in
Shanghai.
Xu Haidong, the assistant secretary-general of the China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said at a recent briefing
in Beijing that the government-backed industry group was closely
watching the development of the lawsuit.
"In the past foreign brands didn't mind (plagiarism) because
they thought Chinese brands were too small to pose a threat. The
JLR case indicates that they might have felt the rise of Chinese
brands," said Mr. Xu.
Experts say that it is difficult for a foreign brand to win a
design patent lawsuit in China, as Chinese laws imply that they
must register the design with the Chinese authority before they
start to manufacture the product, regardless of whether the patent
is already registered in the country of origin.
Honda Motor Co. filed a lawsuit in 2003 against now-defunct
Shuanghuan, claiming that the Chinese car maker infringed its CR-V
crossover design. After 12 years, a court in the northern Hebei
province last year ruled against Honda, ordering it to pay 16
million yuan in compensation to Shuanghuan, saying that the lawsuit
had seriously damaged the small Chinese brand.
Rose Yu
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 21, 2016 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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