Originally Posted by jjjxlr8
Authorities Seize Shandong Linglong Tire Booth at SEMA
31 October 2012
United States: Federal marshals seized the display booth of Chinese tire maker Shandong Linglong Tire Co. at the SEMA Show, claiming its contents as partial repayment of a $26 million court judgment against the company. Jordan Fishman, CEO of Florida-based Tire Engineering and Distribution L.L.C., contacted the federal government and requested the Oct. 29 seizure. This was Fishman's first attempt to collect on the judgment against Shandong Linglong and Dubai-based tire distributor Al- Dobowi Tires Co. L.L.C. In a suit filed in October 2009 before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Va., Fishman accused Shandong Linglong and Al-Dobowi of conspiring with a former associate of Fishman's to steal Fishman's proprietary designs for underground mining tires. The jury in the Alexandria court ruled in Fishman's favor on all counts in July 2010 and levied the $26 million in damages. Shandong Linglong appealed, but a federal appeals court affirmed the lower court decision in June 2012. Before the raid, Shandong Linglong had not paid Fishman a penny of the judgment, according to August J. Matteis, Fishman's attorney and a partner in the Washington law firm of Weisbrod Matteis & Copley P.L.L.C. "They're taking the position that if we want the money, we have to come get it," Matteis said. The value of the booth and its contents-including tires, a computer and the booth itself-is not significant, Fishman said. But the raid was important is making a point, he said. "This is my way of telling them, ‘You don't understand that you're not going to get away with this,'" Fishman said. "'This is the U.S., not China.'" When Fishman confronted Shandong Linglong executives in 2005 about the theft of his designs, they laughed in his face, he claims. "They told me seven years ago that I was too old and not rich enough to beat them-that I would die before seeing a penny," according to Fishma. "Well, I'm still here, and I'm about to see my first penny from them. But I won't stop until I get every penny from these thieves." The contents of the booth will be sold at a sheriffs' auction, Matteis said.
Source: Executive News - Weekly Summary, October 30 - November 5, 2012; IHS Automotive/Rubber News
Chinese Company to Cooperate in ITC Patent Investigation
18 September 2013
United States: A Chinese tire company, Shandong Linglong Tire Co., said it will actively cooperate with the U.S. International Trade Commission's investigation of patent infringement, according to the Global Times. ITC recently announced it would investigate 22 tiremakers and tire importers following a patent infringement claim filed by Toyo Tire Holdings of America. Shandong Linglong Tire is one of seven Chinese tire companies named in the claim. A spokesman for the company said the incident might have been caused by its OEM business, and it has since suspended that business since Toyo filed the complaint. The spokesman told the Global Times that its OEM business involves clients providing blueprints and mold for the company from which the tiremaker produces tires. It is possible those blueprints and molds could have infringed upon Toyo's design patents, the spokesman said. If a patent violation has been found, the ITC will issue a ban on imports of the products involved.
Source: Executive News Summary - Weekly Summary, September 17-23, 2013; IHS Automotive/Tire Review
Both news items several years old................REALLY???