Oracle Lighting (www.oraclelights.com) is enforcing its intellectual property rights and is filing design patent infringement cases against knockoff producers. Shortly after Oracle Lighting’s Vector Grill was unveiled at a Las Vegas, Nev., trade show in 2017, Chinese knockoffs began appearing on the market.
The move follows months of investigations and undercover operations in China, where factories producing knockoff goods are often designed to be packed up and moved overnight, making them hard to pin down. Oracle Lighting recently filed their first case against an operation producing knockoff Vector Grills and other products in Intellectual Property Division of Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court – (2019) Suzhou 05 Intellectual Property First Instance No. 580. Oracle Lighting initiated the action in the hope that it sets an example for other businesses trying to protect their intellectual property rights.
Justin Hartenstein, director of product development at Oracle Lighting, emphasized that this is just the company’s first step toward protecting itself against knockoffs.
“We take our intellectual property rights very seriously and are willing to do whatever it takes to prevent the theft of our patented designs. If that means going to court in China or any other country, we’ll be there,” he said.
Designed for use on the Jeep Wrangler JL, Oracle Lighting’s aftermarket Vector Grill has earned the company awards from the Specialty Equipment Market Association including a 2018 Global Media Award and a runner-up award for the SEMA Best New Exterior Accessory Product of 2019.
Celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2019, Metairie, La.-based Oracle Lighting has been designing innovative lighting products and technologies for the automotive/12Volt, powersports, motorcycle, and marine markets since 1999.