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30 January 2017Trademarks

Bosch targets car parts counterfeiters

Engineering and electronics company Bosch has targeted a Florida-based counterfeiter in a trademark infringement claim.

Filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of California on Friday, January 27, Bosch’s suit alleged that SIC Autoparts has sold products featuring Bosch marks that are not genuine goods.

Based in Saint Lucie West, SIC sells automotive products, including canister purge valves, which were alleged to have infringed Bosch’s trademarks.

Bosch and its licensees have used the marks ‘Bosch’ and the ‘Bosch Magneto’ mark, US registration numbers 633,563 and 1,637,401, in connection with the sale of vehicle parts “for many years”.

The suit claimed that Bosch obtained canister purge valves sold by the defendant and that Bosch engineers evaluated the products.

“Although the products bore the Bosch marks, Bosch engineers determined that the products were not genuine Bosch products,” said the suit.

According to the claim, SIC’s unauthorised use of the trademarks is a “deliberate, intentional, and wilful attempt to trade” on Bosch’s business reputation and goodwill in the marks.

Bosch is seeking permanent injunctive relief, an account of profits, triple damages, destruction of the infringing goods, and attorneys’ fees.

It is also seeking statutory damages for counterfeiting and wilful counterfeiting of each Bosch mark worth up to $2 million for each product sold.

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