Public Announcement of Favorable Decision in Crawler Infringement Litigation
December 25, 2013
Kubota Obtains Favorable Decision in Combine Patent Infringement Litigation
On November 22, 2013, Jiangsu Higher People's Court rejected an appeal filed by Taizhou Modern Fengling Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd. (“Fengling”), confirming the decision at the first instance, thus acknowledging that Fengling infringed a Chinese patent of Kubota corporation, and ordered injunction of manufacturing and sales of head-feeding combine 4LB-150 manufactured and sold by Fengling as well as payment of 800,000 Yuan for damages payable to Kubota.
Kubota Corporation and its subsidiary in China, Kubota Agricultural Machinery (SUZHOU) Co., Ltd. (collectively “Kubota”), filed a lawsuit against Fengling before Nanjing Intermediate People's Court in China on December 9, 2008, alleging infringement of a Chinese patent of Kubota corporation by Fengling.
On December 28, 2012, Nanjing Intermediate People's Court handed down a first instance decision against Fengling, acknowledging that an infringement existed; thus, the plaintiff, Kubota, won the lawsuit. Unsatisfied with this decision, Fengling filed an appeal before Jiangsu Higher People's Court.
On November 22, 2013, Jiangsu Higher People's Court handed down an unappealable decision, rejecting the appeal by Fengling, and confirming the first instance decision. Thus, the legitimacy of Kubota's contention to lawfully exclude products that infringe on its intellectual property rights was recognized by the Court. Kubota will continue to place great importance on its foreign and domestic intellectual property rights, and is committed to further its efforts to protect them.
Chinese Patent: ZL99110929.5 “Crawler for Work Vehicle”