Pinarello hits back at Velocite recessed downtube patent infringment claim

Pinarello has  strongly rejected a claim that a recessed downtube featured in bikes including the Dogma F10, which it launched thus week, infringed a patent held by aerodynamics specialist Victor Major through his Velocite business. The Italian bike brand has accused Major of trying to depict it as a "thief" and has raised the prospect of taking legal action against him as a result of his allegations.

It also said that when he first made his claims last year, Pinarello replied through its lawyers and asked specifically which of its products were involved, and what were the grounds for the alleged patent infringement.  The company said it is still waiting for a response.

his basis for their allegedly infringed his patents,

Major, who told BikeBiz last year that he was open to licencing his design to bicycle manufacturers, published an open letter on the Velocite websitean open letter on Tuesday, the same day Pinarello launched its latest version of the bike ridden by Team Sky, among others.

> Pinarello Dogma F10 launched - it’s lighter, stiffer and more aero

He detailed his correspondence with Pinarello, and was insistent the Italian bike manufacturer had copied his design and infringed his patent.

He wrote: “Finding out who owns what patent is not that simple and in [the] bicycle industry perhaps it is not the norm to investigate the intellectual property space before forging ahead with a new design.

“However, with the new Dogma F10 your use of our intellectual property is deliberate. You know it belongs to us. You were notified. You chose not to engage with us.”

He added, “What do you expect should happen next?” and suggested that Pinarello contact his lawyers.

But Pinarello, now controlled by a private equity firm backed by French luxury goods firm LVMH, say they are not guilty of intellectual property theft.

> Pinarello sold to private equity firm part owned by French luxury goods group LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton

Here is Pinarello's statement in full.

Referring to “Open letter to Cicli Pinarello SpA” published by Mr. Victor Major, CEO of Velocite Tech, on velocite-bikes.com, Cicli Pinarello states the following.

Cicli Pinarello SpA, as a leading company in the cycling sector, obviously takes Intellectual Property issues with the utmost seriousness, Pinarello itself being a patent holder.

While it is true that Mr. Major, through his Taiwanese law firm, wrote to Pinarello on July 2016, it is also true that Pinarello promptly answered (on the 4th of August), through its law firm, clearly and unmistakably pointing out that Mr. Major’s communication was lacking essential information since it did not identify which of Pinarello’s products were contested nor did it give any explanation as to why such products would allegedly infringe Mr. Major’s patents. Providing this information is not ancillary but mandatory when an infringement is alleged.

Pinarello’s patent attorneys not only asked Mr. Major’s attorneys to clarify his position, but also pointed out that Pinarello’s reply was to be expected “not earlier than mid of September 2016, provided that, in the meantime, we will have received the information mentioned above”, information that Pinarello was still waiting to receive from Mr. Major when he decided to post his “Open letter”.

In the same letter, Pinarello’s patent attorneys also brought to Mr. Major’s attention the fact that bicycles with aerodynamic frames have been on the market for years, even going so far as to provide an example.

Neither the requested information nor any reply was sent by Mr. Major in response to Pinarello’s request for clarifications, which have now been provided by Mr. Major in his “Open letter”.

Despite his own fault in not answering Pinarello’s request for clarifications, Mr. Major chose to publicly write his “Open letter” and to depict Pinarello as a sort of “thief”, who uses a patented design without permission and does not respond to legal letters.

Although Pinarello can understand that his behavior may procure Mr. Major a rise in his notoriety, that same behavior is deeply unfair, since Mr. Major himself is perfectly aware that he chose not to discuss the issue with Pinarello.

Cicli Pinarello SpA was, and is, available to discuss the matter with Mr. Major, but will not tolerate and will take appropriate actions against any unsupported allegation, explicit or implicit, of being an infringer or a “thief”.