Dainese versus Alpinestars

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Dainese versus Alpinestars
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Dainese versus Alpinestars

Dainese versus Alpinestars
Patent dispute over airbag systems

Dainese and Alpinestars argue about their airbag systems. At the end of 2015, a southern German dealer had already got caught between the fronts; On August 11, 2017, the Munich Regional Court I passed two judgments.

Michael Schumann, Eva Breutel, Manuel Fuchs

08/29/2017

The District Court of Munich I passed two judgments on August 11 in a procedure initiated by Dainese (file number: 21 O 23553/15 and 21 O 11358/16), which it Alpinestars among other things, prohibit selling its Tech-Air products in Germany.

In the opinion of the court, some properties and functions of these products infringe patents, which Dainese holds.

In addition, Alpinestars must provide Dainese with detailed information on how many such products have been sold in Germany since July 1, 2015, and compensate Dainese for any damage caused as a result.

Alpinestars can appeal the judgments, but they are provisionally enforceable.

Both companies have commented on the judgments in press releases; the wording of these can be found below. Roughly summarized: Alpinestars will appeal the judgments to the Munich Higher Regional Court, and nullity suits are already pending at the Federal Patent Court. Dainese, on the other hand, will deal with the provisionally possible enforcement of the judgments “deal”.

Alpinestars press release on the judgments (wording)

PRESS RELEASE – AUGUST 11, 2017

TECH-AIR ™ PATENT JUDGMENT: LEGAL NOTICE – GERMANY

The Regional Court of Munich I ruled in two rulings announced on August 11, 2017 that certain functions
Alpinestars Tech-Air products have two patents from Dainese S.p.A. hurt.

Alpinestars is of the opinion that these judgments, which relate exclusively to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, are materially incorrect. Alpinestars will therefore appeal both judgments to the Munich Higher Regional Court and is convinced that the decisions in the context of the appeal proceedings will be overturned.

Alpinestars filed for a long time before the announcement of these rulings with the Federal Patent Court against the asserted patents, which are currently still pending. Alpinestars believes that the patents asserted by Dainese will be annulled in response to Alpinestars’ nullity actions and that this litigation will be defunct. Correspondingly, another Dainese patent has already been revoked following opposition proceedings successfully carried out by Alpinestars before the European Patent Office.

These views and expectations are also supported by results in parallel litigation in Italy, where a Dainese injunction has been rejected and the validity of Dainese’s patents is also currently under scrutiny.

The allegations of injury relate to the construction of the inflatable airbag and the very general concept of placing an airbag in a garment. However, the allegations do not relate to the technology, electronics and the way in which Alpinestars Tech-Air technology works.

Alpinestars fully values ​​and respects the industrial property rights of third parties and expects the same with regard to its own property rights. The extremely innovative Tech-Air products from Alpinestars are based on years of in-house research and development work carried out by a dedicated team of leading experts in the field of research and development.

Alpinestars Tech-Air products make a significant innovative contribution to increasing the safety of motorcyclists; a goal that Alpinestars has relentlessly pursued for more than 50 years.

Tech-Air technology remains the leading protection system available on the market for motorcyclists. In Germany – the only country affected by these judgments – Alpinestars will take appropriate measures as far as necessary to comply with the judgments for the time being.

Dainese press release on the judgments and the Alpinestars press release (full text)

Dainese has previously stated that we will not enter into litigation because we believe it is more appropriate to only address infringement issues related to the Dainese patents and technologies (airbag systems for motorcycling and dynamic sports) developed and perfected by Dainese since the late 1990s to assert before the competent state institutions.

However, Dainese is once again forced to respond to a press release from Alpinestars and to go into the details of the litigation and the related decisions.

Dainese has taken note of the content of the two recent decisions of the Regional Court of Munich I on August 11, one of the leading German patent infringement courts, with great satisfaction. In those decisions, the court ruled that Alpinestars SpA, Italy, by selling its Tech-Air-Street-Motorcyclist airbag protective devices and clothing (for street use) and its Tech-Air-Racing-Motorcyclist airbag protective devices and clothing ( for racing) infringes two Dainese patents that are valid in Germany, among others. Both judgments of the Regional Court of Munich I can be appealed, but can be provisionally enforced immediately.

In the decisions, the judges of the Regional Court Munich I essentially sentenced Alpinestars to the following:

  • Prohibition of the sale of Tech-Air-Street and Tech-Air-Racing protective devices and clothing in Germany;
  • Recall of all Tech-Air-Street and Tech-Air-Racing protection devices and clothing from the sales partners in the German market since the start of marketing;
  • Compensation for any damage Dainese has suffered as a result of the unlawful use of its patented technology.

Dainese deals with the enforcement of the judgments.

Dainese would also like to point out that:

  • The two Dainese patents in force in Germany, which the Munich Regional Court I considered infringed, relate to the innovative and high-performance 3D airbags from Dainese with an internal microfilament structure that ensures even inflation over the entire surface Involvement in clothing relate;
  • Both patents were granted by the European Patent Office on May 30, 2012 and January 29, 2014 respectively – the invalidity proceedings initiated by Alpinestars, which are still pending, were only filed in December 2015, i.e. only after Dainese was brought before the Munich I Regional Court against a German dealer who offered Alpinestar Tech Air products for sale has obtained an injunction – both patents are registered for Dainese in France, Great Britain, Spain and Italy;
  • Dainese has taken legal action in Italy for the infringement of five patents through the use of Tech-Air protective devices and clothing, and in this case, too, has responded with the typical initiation of nullity proceedings. The disputes are pending and the judges have not issued any measure or injunction that will rule out infringement or question the validity of Dainese’s patents;
  • Dainese owns more than 30 patents protecting D air® Technology and has invested heavily in research, development, manufacturing and marketing of the first and most innovative airbag platform for road and track motorcycling and skiing.

Dainese believes that filing and defending its patents is essential to protect its own investment in research and development and to continuously develop technologies and innovations aimed at increasing the safety of motorcyclists and all those involved in dynamic sports practice.

News from December 3, 2015

Daniel Haller fell out of breath. The clothing and accessories retailer received a 79-page letter by fax from the law firm Hogan Lovells International in Munich. Haller’s company Motorradland GmbH Friedrichshafen was asked to do so, “offering and selling” refrain from installing the new TechAir airbag system from Alpinestars, as this would infringe the patent rights of Dainese, the firm’s client.

This was followed by detailed English-language patent specifications, a cease and desist declaration that was barely understandable for laypeople, which Haller was supposed to sign within four days, and finally the big ending: Since the lawyers put the value in dispute in the matter at one million euros, the law firm commissioned by Dainese wants 6126 Euro fees from dealer Haller.

The concerned dealer from Lake Constance quickly pulled out all the stops. He turned to MOTORRAD and of course the manufacturer Alpinestars. It is particularly spicy that Haller does not yet have the airbag system in question in stock: “So far I have only ordered the TechAir orally.” But because his name is already on the Alpinestars dealer website, he received the mail from a lawyer – and the invoice Therefore. At Alpinestars, the angry businessman was calmed down: “Alpinestars hired another law firm to represent me and other affected dealers with Dainese”, tells Haller. And that he is very happy about it: “With such a high value in dispute of one million euros, the costs of the proceedings could ruin a shop like mine.”

So it looks like a dispute between Dainese and Alpinestars is raging behind the scenes. Both companies are based in the Veneto in northern Italy, both manufacture protective clothing for motorcyclists, from gloves to boots to station wagons. A cooperation was planned years ago, but the negotiations failed, and the two companies have been tough competitors ever since.

Because of the airbag, the competition now seems to be escalating. Dainese began developing it 15 years ago, initially equipping racing drivers from Valentino Rossi to Stefan Bradl with it, and in 2013 finally presented the D-air Street for use on public roads. Because falls are different there than on the racetrack, where there are no impact accidents like in the airbag crash test photo on the left, this evolution was particularly complicated and expensive, according to Dainese.

The company holds numerous patents on the system – and apparently sees some infringed by the new TechAir system, which was first introduced in 2014. The Alpinestars airbag was apparently taken off the market as a precaution in Germany after the opposing lawyer offensive and is currently not available according to reports. Daniel Haller wonders why he got caught between the fronts of the manufacturers: “I have no idea whether Alpinestars is infringing any of Dainese’s patents with the TechAir,” he says. “And even if I did, I couldn’t help it. I’m just a dealer. ”At this point in time, neither of the two manufacturers wanted to comment on MOTORRAD.

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