July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are among a dozen companies sued over dashboard mounts for navigation devices in a rare case of a Chinese company seeking to enforce patent rights in a U.S. court.
Changzhou Asian Endergonic Electronic Technology Co., based in Changzhou, China, claims the retailers are infringing its patent on a design for the dashboard mounts by selling products made by a competitor. It wants cash and a court order to prevent further use of the design. The patent was issued in March.
The complaint, filed July 2 in U.S. District Court in Texarkana, Texas, reflects the rising use of the U.S. patent system by Chinese companies. U.S. patent applications by residents of mainland China, which excludes Hong Kong and Macau, surged 12-fold between fiscal years 2000 and 2008, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
“The Chinese are becoming sophisticated enough to take advantage of the patent system in the U.S.,” said Brian Nester, a lawyer with Fish & Richardson in Washington, who often represents South Korean companies in U.S. patent fights. “You will see more Chinese companies filing suit in the U.S.”
Closely held Changzhou Asian aims to build a market in the U.S. and filed the complaint to deal with “the typical Chinese knockoff,” said Chad Nydegger, a lawyer for the company. It also is suing the manufacturer in China, accusing it of infringing two Chinese patents, Nydegger said.
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