German off-highway machine tyre maker
In its ruling, Hamburg Regional Court confirmed that certain Aeolus-branded tyres infringe an EU design patent of Continental. Continental had filed a complaint in 2016 concerning Aeolus truck tyres (Aeolus ATR 33 and Neo Allroads T+) advertised and sold in the EU by tyre wholesaler Heuver Bandengroothandel B.V (Heuver) because their profile showed design elements similar to those developed by Continental for its successful HTR 2 tyres, which it had protected according to EU law (registered Community design).
Among other issues, the ruling covered a prohibition of sales of the affected Aeolus tyres, a claim for damages and a claim for the recall of tires already sold by Heuver. After the ruling, Heuver and Continental reached an out-of-court settlement that also includes the claims listed by Continental in the ruling.
Constantin Batsch, who is responsible at Continental for the truck tyre replacement market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, expressed his satisfaction with the judgement. “We continually invest significantly in research and development to be able to offer our customers innovative and high-performance products,” said Batsch. “Continental accordingly takes any unauthorised use of our patents, brands or other intellectual property rights or infringements of these extremely seriously, and will continue to enforce its rights by legal means in future.”
