After engaging in a legal battle that lasted for almost eight years, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (SRI) finally won the lawsuit it had filed against Italian manufacturer TEK Automotive S.r.l. for patent infringement. SRI alleged in its patent infringement suit that it had filed in the District Court of Mannheim, Germany in October 2010 that TEK Automotive had used SRI’s patented technology without permission. The technology was used in the emergency tire repair kits that TEK Automotive it manufactured. SRI claimed in the lawsuits that it had filed in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and South Africa that it had already obtained patents for the technology TEK Automotive used in its kits and TEK Automotive had proceeded with their manufacture without getting any authorization from SRI.
The legal battle came to an end with an order from the court that on 23 May 2018 that TEK Automotive is to “cease and desist all infringement and to pay compensatory damages to the plaintiff.” The German courts had previously ruled in March 2015 and May 2015, in SRI’s favour regarding the infringement of its two patents for emergency tire repair technology.
Commenting on the ruling issued by the court on May 23, SRI said in a statement that the group considers its intellectual property to be an invaluable asset and will continue to continue to actively develop new cutting-edge technologies while aggressively protecting the integrity of its intellectual property so that new technologies can be properly utilized.
