The NOCO Company (appellant) v Shenzhen Carku Technology Co Ltd (respondent)
Tuesday 12 December 2023
By Appellant’s Notice filed on 13 October 2023, the appellant appeals the order of Meade J dated 16 September 2022.
Meade J declared that the Patent is and has at all material times been invalid and ordered that the Patent be revoked. The Defendant’s counterclaim for infringement of the Patent was dismissed.
This action concerns battery-powered car jump starters.
The Claimant (“Carku”), a company incorporated in the People’s Republic of China, sought the revocation of the Patent, which is owned by the Defendant, an Ohio company (“NOCO”), which is a competitor of the Claimant.
The Claimant also alleges that statements made by NOCO to Amazon were actionable threats of patent infringement under s. 70 of the Patents Act 1977. Those statements led to Amazon removing from sale on its site various of the Claimant’s products sold there by the Claimant’s distributors.
NOCO denied that the Patent was invalid and counterclaimed for infringement. It says that the communications to Amazon were not threats, and were justified if they were.
View hearing: