Recently, Best Buy Co.(hereinafter referred to as Best Buy), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (hereinafter referred to as Wal-Mart) and several other U.S. retailers were sued by a Chinese company based in Changzhou named Changzhou Asian Endergonic Electronic Technology Co,(hereinafter referred to as Changzhou Asian) for patent infringement. Changzhou Asian claimed that its patent for dashboard mounts for navigation devices was infringed due to the sale of Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
The case was brought to United States District Court of Texas in early June. Changzhou Asian alleged that the said retailers were selling counterfeit products which infringed its design patent for the dashboard mounts. Changzhou Asian sought for damages caused by the sale of the infringing products. In addition to the case in the United States, Changzhou Asian also sued the manufacturer in China.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, there was a significant increase of patent applications filed by Chinese mainland companies from 2000 to 2008. In 8 years, a total of 5,129 US patent applications filed by Chinese applicants in United Sates.
