Another big hit for the automotive industry. Following a long legal process that spanned almost a decade, a German court has given a decision regarding the Mercedes-Benz Airscarf system.
According to that court, Daimler has been infringing patent rights of Ludwig Schatzinger (the patent owner). The decision went into effect on Tuesday and now Mercedes-Benz can no longer sold in Germany models with the Airscarf system.
Now Daimler has to report the number of open-top models with this feature and will be forced to pay damages. About two thirds of the Mercedes-Benz convertibles sold in Germany have this piece of equipment.
More than that, Mercedes will also have to disable the Airscarf system on all unsold new and used cars in Germany. In addition they have to withdraw all local advertisements related to the neck-level heating system.
The silver lining for Daimler is that on December 25 this year the patent rights infringed will expire, thus allowing Mercedes to sell AIRSCARF-equipped cars in its domestic market once again.
Source: EAN
