Michelin tired of infringement, takes action against repair company
Car tyre manufacturer Michelin has sued a repair company for design patent infringement relating to tyre tread designs.
The complaint was filed on Monday, July 10, at the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.
It accused Tire Recappers, a Nashville-based tyre repair company, of offering for sale a range of tyres with tread designs that “directly infringed and continues to directly infringe” its patents.
The two patents in question, US numbers D530,266 and D639,235, relate to different tread designs of tyres which enable better grip in different terrains.
Michelin claimed the Cross Grip and the All Position Highway tyres sold by Tire Recappers directly infringe the design patents.
“The claimed design of the D’266 patent and the tread design of at least Tire Recappers’ Cross Grip tires are substantially the same,” it said in the claim.
“The ordinary observer would be deceived into believing that the tread design of Tire Recappers’ Cross Grip is the design claimed in the D’266 patent.”
Michelin is seeking injunctive relief, damages, a transfer of profits derived from the alleged infringement, and for all its costs and attorneys’ fees.
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