FULLERTON, CA — Yokohama Tire Corp. has initiated legal proceedings against several tire companies, including Hangzhou, Tireco, Cooper, Guizhou and Greenball for infringement of Yokohama tire patents on some of its best-selling brands and its long-standing and prominent ADVAN trademark.
Yokohama filed suit in Los Angeles Federal Court on Sept. 1, for patent infringement against Hangzhou and Tireco for unauthorized use of the patented Geolandar A/T+II tread design. At the same time, Yokohama has demanded that Cooper cease infringing the patent protecting the tread design of Yokohama’s AVS dB S2 tire. Yokohama made a similar demand to Guizhou and Greenball relative to their unauthorized use of Yokohama’s ADVAN trademark.
According to Jim MacMaster, Yokohama executive vice president, business division, "We want the industry copycats to be on clear notice: steal our designs and you will be sued. Yokohama continues to produce industry-leading tires and tread patterns that others sometimes try to replicate. So once again, we have to stop others from using our designs. As displayed by this most recent enforcement activity, Yokohama will continue to aggressively enforce its patent and trademark rights."
For more information about Yokohama, visit: http://www.yokohamatire.com