News - 2019

Bridgestone Wins Tire Design Rights Infringement Lawsuit in China

2019/04/12

Tokyo (April 12, 2019) -- Bridgestone Corporation today announced that it has received a favorable ruling from the Beijing Intellectual Property Court in its design rights infringement lawsuit against major Chinese tire manufacturer Shengtai Group .

In September 2015, Bridgestone filed the lawsuit with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. The lawsuit claimed that tire manufacturing and sales activities conducted by Shengtai Group utilized a truck tire tread pattern*1 patented by Bridgestone and these activities were therefore in violation of the design rights. In January 2019, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court upheld Bridgestone's claim and ordered Shengtai Group to pay Bridgestone damages in the amount of 10 million Chinese yuan (approximately 160 million Japanese yen) ^*2 and the winning lawsuit has been finalized.

The disputed design rights pertained to the tread pattern for the Bridgestone ST3000 truck tire (pictured below).

ST3000 Truck Tire

Bridgestone strives to provide consumers with safe and reliable products and to protect consumers against the proliferation of substandard and potentially unsafe counterfeit. Accordingly, Bridgestone takes seriously any unauthorized use or infringement of its patents, design rights, trademarks, or any other intellectual property. With this level of vigilance, Bridgestone is prioritizing the safety and reliability associated with its products and maintaining and enhancing its hard-earned brand value.

Tread pattern etched into the section of the tire that comes into direct contact with the road's surface
Translated at a rate of 16 Japanese yen to 1 Chinese yuan

About Bridgestone Corporation:
Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. In addition to tires for use in a wide variety of applications, it also manufactures a broad range of diversified products, which include industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods. Its products are sold in over 150 nations and territories around the world.