Bridgestone Corp. has won an infringement lawsuit against a pair of Chinese tire manufacturers that illegally used the tread pattern of the Blizzak DM-V1 tire.
Bridgestone filed the lawsuit against Shandong Huasheng Rubber Co. Ltd. (Huasheng) and Shandong Hongsheng Rubber Co. Ltd. (Hongsheng) in the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court in 2017. Bridgestone said the companies used the tread pattern of the Blizzak tire for 4x4 sport utility vehicles "in violation of (its) design rights."
The court ruled in Bridgestone's favor and ordered Huasheng and Hongsheng to pay damages in an amount of roughly 900,000 Chinese yuan — approximately 13.5 million Japanese yen, or $125,000.
