Product piracy does not pay
The KARL MAYER GROUP wins arbitration proceedings concerning infringed industrial property rights relating to its BLUEDYE indigo dyeing machine at ITMA 2023 Learn moreOnly the best gets copied! What seems like an accolade at first glance has considerable negative consequences in business practice. The KARL MAYER GROUP also found this out at this year's ITMA in Milan. At the leading trade fair for the international textile machinery sector, Jupiter Comtex Pvt. Ltd, a competitor in the warp preparation sector, presented a unit for indigo dyeing, thereby infringing one of the group's industrial property rights. The exhibit contained solutions which KARL MAYER had developed for its BLUEDYE indigo dyeing machine and had protected by patent.
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The KARL MAYER GROUP is a leading supplier of textile machinery and has been a technological pioneer for decades. Around 18 % (Ø 2016-2021) of its turnover is spent on R&D and investments.
Its worldwide R&D centres generate the best economic and technical products, services and innovations that move the textile world and help its international customers to be successful. The latest new development with the highest market relevance for the denim industry is the BLUEDYE indigo dyeing system.
The KARL MAYER GROUP's Development Center in Obertshausen
Compared to pendants with conventional process control, the highly innovative dyeing technology uses considerably less water and chemicals and thus scores equally in terms of environmental protection and costs. The need for hydrosulphite and caustic soda - the main environmental polluters of the process - can be more than halved and the volume of water required can also be significantly reduced. In addition, less yarn waste is produced. Operating costs can be reduced by up to 20 %. For the development of the Game-Changer production line, KARL MAYER pooled and extended the warp preparation know-how it had gained over many years, and carried out lengthy, meticulous tests and processing trials. The first BLUEDYE was put into operation in the spring of this year. The results from practice meet all the customer's expectations and set trends on the market.
Presentation of the BLUEDYE at ITMA 2023
However, the well thought-out system also encouraged copying, from which Jupiter Comtex Pvt. Ltd. was not able to profit for long. Shortly after the opening of the trade fair, the KARL MAYER GROUP reported the infringement of existing patent rights by Jupiter Comtex Pvt. Ltd. to the arbitration panel to arbitrate intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements of CEMATEX. After hearing both parties, the IPR Bureau's verdict was in favour of the KARL MAYER GROUP: Jupiter Comtex Pvt. Ltd. had to cover its indigo dyeing equipment for the remainder of the trade fair.
With its consistent action against plagiarism, the KARL MAYER GROUP has averted damage and set an example. According to a VDMA study from 2022, around 72 % of the companies surveyed were victims of product or brand piracy. The estimated losses due to this amounted to approx. 6.4 billion euros in the turnover year 2021 - a sum which represents almost 29,000 jobs.1
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