Shimano Suit Blocks SRAM Cassettes, Trigger Shifters From German Market

Sep 4, 2003
by Luc 'Acadian' Albert  
Shimano's patent infringement suit against SRAM in Germany went very public last week at Eurobike, where the Japanese company served injunctions that had SRAM Europe employees pulling Powerglide cassettes and its new X-7 trigger shifters off of display shelves and putting stickers over catalog illustrations in order to comply while SRAM's appeals are pending."SRAM and the other defendants are now bound by the court's order not to manufacture, offer, sell, market and use the "Powerglide II" brand cassettes (5.0 and 7.0) in Germany," Shimano said in a prepared statement.


"The court order also prevents SRAM from importing these cassettes into Germany for any of the above-mentioned purposes. Shimano is confident that this decision of the Munich Court will receive substantial attention in the marketplace not only by manufacturers but also by dealers," Shimano's statement said.


The injunctions are valid only in Germany.


Shimano's allegations that SRAM cassettes infringe on Shimano's European patents had been through a series of German patent court hearings and a publicized decision, but the preliminary injunction against marketing the trigger shifters in Germany, obtained in a more recent and separate filing, took SRAM by surprise.


"It was a sort of a secret, surprise preliminary injunction they obtained without any input from SRAM. I guess that's something they can do in Germany. We didn't have a chance to properly respond. There's a hearing set for Oct. 1 now," said Brian Benzer, manager of administration for SRAM.


SRAM filed for a stay against the injunction in the cassette case and hopes to resume marketing the cassettes in Germany while its appeals are pending, but has not received a ruling.


The company will also dispute the preliminary findings in the trigger case dispute.


"It's a similar situation. SRAM had designed their own trigger shifters, and was of course aware of Shimano's intellectual property and designed our products so as not to infringe on any intellectual property," Benzer said.


"Of course we're going to obey the rulings as they come down, but we're doing everything in our power to appeal them and reverse them. We believe both the trigger decision and the cassette decision are in error. Once all the facts are reviewed, I think they will be reversed," Benzer said.


SRAM is not the only company being targeted. Shimano has also received a favorable decision from a German court in its suit against Point Bike Innovation, a German company, alleging infringement of its Hyper Glide patents. "Shimano intends to enforce this decision as well in order to protect its legal rights," the company said in its statement.

News Source: bicycleretailer.com


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