ENFIELD SUED IN US OVER PATENT INFRINGEMENT
Flash Electronics India claims the bike maker has infringed patent on ‘regulator rectifier device’
Flash Electronics India, a leading electronic and electric auto components maker, has filed a lawsuit against Royal Enfield (RE), challenging patent infringement in the US regarding production of a critical component for two-wheelers/motorcycle.
To be sure, while instances of part suppliers in mature auto markets filing a lawsuit against an automaker is not uncommon, it is perhaps the first time that a homegrown auto ancillary firm has taken on an auto company. It comes at a time when the two-wheeler making arm of Eicher Motor is battling slowing sales in the domestic market and looking to reap benefits of the Interceptor and Continental GT 650.
Royal Enfield in a statement said, “No official communication has been received, but we have learnt of a lawsuit filed in the US by Flash Electronics Pvt that alleges that one of the components used in some of our motorcycle models sold there infringe on the plaintiff’s registered patent. We would like to clarify that the said component is supplied to us by an external, proprietary supplier, which independently develops and owns the IP rights. The supplier denies plaintiff’s claims vehemently.”
The New Delhi-based company has alleged that Royal Enfield has infringed Flash electronics’ patent on “Regulator Rectifier Device and Method for Regulating an Output Voltage of the Same”, duly issued by the United States Patent & Trademark Office to Flash Electronics on February 20, 2018 after Flash’s R&D department made a breakthrough invention of the component in 2014.
Since then, Flash Electronics has been the key manufacturer and supplier of this component to many leading two-wheeler manufacturers in India and overseas, it said.
“They have taken some of our regulators and it has been copied blindly by another manufacturer (Varroc). So, I would say, Royal Enfield has got into this knowingly,” Sanjeev Vasdev, founder and managing director, Flash Electronics, told Business Standard. Varroc has filed a caveat petition against Flash. A spokesperson declined to comment.
“The litigations have been initiated in the US and Europe hence the way forward will depend on the laws of those countries. Given the global clientele Flash caters to, it seems like a strong technology company and its important that it enforces its stand. It is one of the rare cases of an Indian company taking on another company in a foreign court,” said Gayatri Roy, partner at Luthra & Luthra. Vasdev said his firm warned Enfield on October 12, 2018 and they had assured they would stop infringing but “they never lived up to their talks.”