ITMA Asia + CITME 2018 is China's most important textiles event, supported by all nine CEMATEX European textile machinery associations, CTMA (China Textile Machinery Association) and JTMA (Japan Textile Machinery Association). The sixth edition of the combined show was held from 15-19 October 2018 at the new National Exhibition and Convention Centre (NECC) in Shanghai.

Italian narrow fabrics machine manufacturer Comez, subsidiary of Switzerland based Jakob Müller, has successfully applied for interim injunctions at the on-site IPR Office to stop design patent infringements against Chinese manufacturers DKY Machinery, Huibang Machine (Yingkou), and Dah Heer Industrial.

On the first day of the fair, Jakob Müller found that the machines of the three companies showed clear violation of Comez’s intellectual property without Jakob Müller’s or Comez’s permission. The patentee at once filed a complaint to the IPR Office against these companies, to prohibit the exhibition of the infringing systems.

The IPR Office served the complaint materials to three companies in the morning of the second day and set a time limit of 24 hours for a counterstatement to the three infringers. One of them, Dah Heer, removed the infringing system actively, and the others, DKY and Huibang, submitted a counterstatement. After the IPR Office assessed these statements and evaluated the possibility of the infringements, the IPR Office required them to remove the systems concerned in the patent on 17 October. The systems concerned were removed by DKY and Huibang and not exhibited any more until the end of the fair.

Bernhard Engesser, Head of Business Development at Jakob Müller, thanked the responsible patent lawyers of the intellectual property rights office and emphasised that Jakob Müller will take a high priority against further patent infringements. Jakob Müller and its relevant companies reserve the right to take further civil actions against the respective companies.

Founded in 1887, Jakob Müller is a leading company with regard to technology for the manufacture of woven and knitted tapes and webbing, woven ropes, woven labels and technical textiles, printed narrow fabrics, dyeing, make-up and winding machinery. The Müller supply programme covers all the needs of the ribbons and narrow fabrics industry from individual yarn processing up to the finished, made-up product.

www.mueller-frick.com