Bridgestone settles copyright infringement lawsuit in China

Tokyo – Bridgestone Corp. has reached a judicial settlement with a Chinese company with regards to the copyright infringement of its B mark as a ‘work of fine art’.

The settlement was reach by conciliation order as of 2 Dec with a Jiangsu garment company in Suzhou Intermediate People's Court, Bridgestone announced 18 Dec.

In September 2019, Bridgestone filed the lawsuit claiming that the garment manufacturing, sales and promotion activities, both online and offline, conducted by the company infringed on Bridgestone's copyright in its B mark.

In an effort to resolve the case, Bridgestone said it decided to enter into a judicial settlement whereby the company would pay Bridgestone Yuan200,000 (€25,000) and would abandon its trademark registration for the infringing mark.

Bridgestone stressed that it took “any unauthorised use or infringement of its intellectual property seriously and will take all necessary legal steps to enforce its rights.”