News - 2014

Tokyo (December 15, 2014)-Bridgestone Corporation (the Company) announced that it has received a favorable ruling in its lawsuit regarding infringement of its design rights against two Chinese companies: JIANXIN RUBBER (FUJIAN) CO., LTD., and PT.Beststone Rubber Industries Co., Ltd.

In September 2011, the Company filed a lawsuit against JIANXIN and PT.Beststone in the Zhengzhou Intermediate People's Court. The suit articulated how the companies had violated Bridgestone's design rights by manufacturing and selling pre-cure treads^*1 using a tread pattern^*2 for truck and bus tires for which the Company holds design rights with regard to use for automobile tires. In October 2014, it was ruled that the manufacture and sale of the aforementioned pre-cure treads constituted an indirect violation of the Company's automobile tire-use design rights^*3. Accordingly, the Zhengzhou Higher People's Court ordered the companies to pay damages to the Company.

The Bridgestone Group is committed to protecting its intellectual property, and will continue to take aggressive action in the courts and before regulators to dispute any unauthorized use or infringement of Bridgestone patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property. These actions are necessary to protect the safety and security of consumers and to maintain and enhance Bridgestone's brand value.

1. "Tread pattern" refers to the design of the grooves on the portion of tires that makes direct contact with road surfaces.
2. "Pre-cured treads" refers to pre-vulcanized tread rubber used in retread tires.
3. Under Article 38 of the Design Act of Japan, certain acts that are incredibly likely to result in a violation of design rights are deemed comparable to design rights violations and are forbidden, even if the registered design is not reproduced in its entirety.