According to Cars UK and IPWire, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sued Bentley Motors earlier this month in Federal District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, over a patent infringement. JLR claims Bentley’s All Terrain Specification used in the new Bentyaga comes with a Drive Dynamics system that offers Snow, Ice, and Wet Grass, Dirt and Gravel, Mud and Trail and Sand Modes – nearly the same as its own Grass/Gravel/Snow, Mud and Ruts, Sand, and Rocks modes.
As part of the suit, JLR filed a 30-page complaint seeking monetary damages, attorney’s fees, and a permanent injunction against Bentley.
Supposedly JLR had spent 2-years trying to get Bentley management to address their issues and complaints about using similar ‘All Terrain Specs’ in the Bentyaga without much success.
Cases such as this can be very hard to prove without direct evidence of backward engineering, industrial theft, or some other sort of specific action. Many times the true motivation behind such lawsuits is to force the alleged offending pay attention, respond, and get them to the negotiating table.
Only time will tell what becomes of this particular suit. JLR is represented by Bert Reiser and Clement Naples of Latham & Watkins.
