News - 2020

Tokyo (February 28, 2020) -- Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) today announced that it has received a favorable ruling from the Shanghai High People's Court in its lawsuit regarding the infringement of patent rights against the major Chinese tire manufacturer Fangxing Rubber Co., Ltd. (Fangxing).

In September 2017, Bridgestone filed a lawsuit with the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court. The lawsuit claimed that tire manufacturing and sales activities conducted by Fangxing utilized the tread pattern^*1 of truck tires for which Bridgestone has taken out a patent^*2 and that these activities were therefore in violation of the company's patent rights. In May 2018, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court upheld the Bridgestone claim and ordered Fangxing to cease activities that are in violation of the company's patent rights and pay damages to Bridgestone in the amount of approximately 620,000 Chinese yuan (approx. 9.8 million Japanese yen^*3). Fangxing issued an appeal in June 2018, but the Shanghai High People's Court upheld the lower court's decision, finalizing the decision in favor of Bridgestone.

Bridgestone strives to provide customers with safe and reliable products and to combat the risks of customers mistakenly purchasing counterfeit Bridgestone products. Accordingly, Bridgestone takes seriously any unauthorized use or infringement of its patents, trademarks, or any other intellectual property.

1. The tread pattern refers to the section of the tire that comes into direct contact with the road's surface.
2. The violated patent rights pertained to Bridgestone's R118 truck tire tread pattern (see diagram below). The R118 truck tire tread pattern was developed proprietarily by Bridgestone for China and other Asian markets.
3. Translated at a rate of 15.8 Japanese yen to 1 Chinese yuan.

Related links:
Bridgestone Wins Patent Right Infringement Lawsuit Against Fangxing in Shanghai Intellectual Property Court