Bridgestone Corp. said Sept. 5 that the Intermediate People's Court in Qingdao, China, ruled in favor of the Japanese auto parts manufacturer in a design patent infringement lawsuit against Chinese tire manufacturers Shengtai Group and Shandong Shengshi Tailai Rubber Technology Co. Ltd.
Bridgestone sued Shengtai in March 2018 for allegedly using the patented tread pattern of the Bridgestone Blizzak VRX studless tire for passenger cars. In July, Shengtai was ordered to cease activities, dispose of the dedicated tire molds and pay Bridgestone 800,000 Chinese yuan in damages.
In April, Bridgestone also won against Shengtai after the court ruled that the latter violated Bridgestone's design patent for its ST3000 truck tires.
As of Sept. 5, US$1 was equivalent to 7.15 Chinese yuan.
