Two Chinese companies have had their SEMA booths raided and parts seized by federal marshals on allegations of copyright infringement.
In an emergency suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Nevada on Tuesday, aftermarket Jeep parts manufacturer Omix-ADA said the Chinese firms were displaying and selling knocks-offs of a plethora its patented parts.
On the back of this lawsuit, an additional six Chinese companies were raided at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo, also taking place in Las Vegas. District Judge Gloria Navarro has scheduled a preliminary hearing for November 10 to further discuss the matter.
In a blog post on Quadratec, Omix-ADA’s director of marketing, Henk Van Dongen, said: “This is something we were aware of (before SEMA) and we talked with SEMA about how do we go through the steps because we don’t want to upset the industry at an event like this.
“So they recommended a few local attorneys and we got all of our paperwork in place by Monday night, then Tuesday we went to the judge.”
An employee of Omix-ADA says that during the raids, employees of the Chinese companies attempted to hide knock-off products when marshals arrived at their respective booths.
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