The Karl Mayer Group has scored an important victory in the fight against product piracy in China. The innovative textile machinery and plant engineering company has reported a patent infringement by its competitor, Fujian Xin Gang Textile Machinery Co. Ltd. and, after several years of dispute in court, has been vindicated in the second instance.

The subject of the legal dispute was a constructive system for heating the carrying-lever shaft of Tricot and Raschel machines. This clever solution enables the technology leader's machines equipped with carbon bars to compensate for changing ambient temperatures. A patent for the technical innovation was granted in China in November 2011.

Solutions centred around carbon technology contribute to significant increases in machine performance but are also the result of extensive development work. As a leading supplier of textile machinery and a long-standing technological pioneer, the Karl Mayer Group spends around 18% of its turnover on R&D and investments. Its worldwide R&D centres generate the best economic and technical products, services and innovations that move the textile world and help its international customers to be successful. These pioneering achievements must be protected.

The proceedings started back in 2021 before the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court. Following an appeal by the Karl Mayer Group, the final judgement was handed down by the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China in May 2024. It ruled in favour of the German plaintiff.

Fujian Xin Gang Textile's counterclaim for cancellation of the patent in question was dismissed, and the Chinese manufacturer must immediately cease manufacturing, selling and advertising the machines with the technical solution that was the subject of the legal dispute. A fine was also imposed.

With the judgement on the latest patent dispute, the Group is signalling that copying is not worth it. The court's decision also gives the global player security in its business activities in the important Chinese market.

"The judgement shows that legal certainty in competition is being strengthened in China. This is an important message, especially for companies that focus on progress and the development of innovations," says Zhen Kong, General Manager of Karl Mayer (China).

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