Jaguar Land Rover has filed a suit against Volkswagen with the International Trade Commission in America, it reports Autonews. According to JLR, Volkswagen makes improper use of the Terrain Response system on which the Indian-British concern has a patent in various SUVs. That is why JLR wants to block the import of the affected cars to America.
According to JLR, Volkswagen applies the technology of the Terrain Response system in the Porsche Cayenne, Lamborghini Urus and the Audi Q5, Q7 and Q8. The A6 Allroad and the e-tron are also on the list. Only the Tiguan would be ‘guilty’ of Volkswagen itself. The larger Atlas that the brand supplies in America is therefore apparently out of reach. JLR therefore wants the import to America to be blocked of the above models. In its own words, JLR wants to protect its American activities ‘against companies that use JLR technology without a license and infringe the patent’.
The case is now with the International Trade Commission, an agency in America that supervises compliance with patents. The ITC has the authority to impose an import block, but cannot issue fines. To that end, JLR filed lawsuits in federal courts in Delaware and New Jersey. Whether JLR is ultimately right remains to be seen. Techzle Jaguar Netherlands has asked whether there is also such a case in Europe, but the spokesman was unable to comment.