KENWOOD wins 4.3 m. yuan over patent infringement case in China

December 5, 2007

The Beijing Municipal People’s High Court announced the final verdict over a patent infringement case filed by the Japanese electronic enterprise KENWOOD, ordering three Chinese companies to pay 4.3 million yuan (581,867 U.S. dollars) in compensation for infringing the design patent of portable cable communicator made by the plaintiff.

KENWOOD claimed that it registered the design patent of two models of communicators in 2000. In March, 2006, KENWOOD found out that the design of KW-5118 communicators made by the defendants is almost identical to that of KENWOOD products. Although there are slight differences on some minor parts of the products, they don't affect the whole visual effects given similar general structures and shapes. Therefore, the consumers can hardly tell the differences between the products of KENWOOD and that of the three Chinese companies.

Actually, it is not the first IP lawsuit lodged by KENWOOD in China. In 2005, it sued a Shenzhen company over design patent infringement and won the case.