Munich Court of Appeals Rules Against Alpinestars in D-air® Patent Infringement
Press Release | February 8, 2019
The Munich Court of Appeals reached a final verdict that the Tech-Air™ product infringed upon Dainese’s D-air technology
This is a press release from Dainese…
After a long judicial battle, also the Munich Court of Appeal (following the decision of the Court of Munich Court of First Instance I in August 2017) confirmed in a judgment issued on February 7, 2019 that the Tech-Air™ Street airbag Vest (for road use) and Tech-Air™ Racing airbag Vest (for track use and road), manufactured and marketed by Alpinestars, infringe the German part of Dainese’s European patent EP 2 412 257 B1.
This comes after the German Federal Patent Court has previously confirmed the validity of this patent in separate validity proceeding; a decision which Alpinestars appealed. The now obtained decision by the Munich Appeals Court in the infringement proceedings is only appealable by way of applying for leave for an appeal to the German Federal Supreme Court.
The Munich Court of Appeal, with enforceable judgement with which it ruled in favor of Dainese regarding the core issues of the litigation, has issued an injunction:
- prohibiting Alpinestars to commercialize the Tech-Air™ Street Airbag Vests and Tech-Air™ Racing Airbag Vests in Germany;
- ordering Alpinestars to recall any such vests which Alpinestars has supplied since July 1, 2015 and which are still in the possession of commercial customers in Germany;
- Compensating Dainese for all damages suffered due to the sale of the infringing vests in Germany since July 1, 2015.
This decision is a major victory for Dainese in an intensive patent litigation fought against Alpinestars in Italy, Germany, the UK and France.
ABOUT DAINESE:
Dainese has a highly innovative protective airbag system for motorcycling and dynamic sports through the D-air® technology. This technology is protected in various patents owned by Dainese one of them being the patent which was now the basis for the decision by the Appeals Court Munich.
Dainese has developed its D-air® technology since the late ’90s and is keen to point out that the filing and defense of its patents are essential for the protection of its investments in research and development and for the continuous development of new technologies.
The aim is to constantly increase the protection of motorcyclists and of all those who practice dynamic sports, the Dainese mission since the year of its foundation: 1972.