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IPR suit to have no impact on roll-out of BSVI vehicles, says Royal Enfield

Updated : August 27, 2019 06:31 PM IST

Royal Enfield, India’s largest maker of middle-weight premium motorcycles, which has been locked in an IPR infringement case with component manufacturer Flash Electronics has said the lawsuit filed in the US will have no impact on the company's plans to introduce BSVI vehicles in the Indian market.

Flash Electronics had filed a lawsuit in a US court alleging that Royal Enfield has infringed its patent on the regulator rectifier device and method for regulating output voltage.

“We were approached by Royal Enfield for talks on the May 30 and we finally called off talks on the July 23 because we couldn’t go anywhere. We could not allow this infringement to continue in domestic markets," Sanjeev Vasdev, MD, Flash Electronics told CNBC-TV18.

Royal Enfield has offered 100 percent of their international business and domestic business later on, he added.

Royal Enfield has confirmed to CNBC TV18 that its teams and legal advisors have had various meetings with Flash Electronics in relation to the IPR suit but declined to confirm or disclose the nature of discussions as the matter is sub-judice.

The company said they are seeking legal advice on whether to restrain Flash Electronics from making statements in the media.

In a telephonic interview with CNBC-TV18, Vasdev told that there were only two manufacturers in the world making regulator rectifier devices and if Royal Enfield chose to go with the Japanese supplier then that would phenomenally raise costs.

He also said that Flash Electronics would now re-initiate the IPR lawsuit in the United States and also initiate similar infringement cases in other jurisdictions.

“As mentioned earlier, depending on requirement, we work with several vendors for the development and supply of parts. We are in talks with various suppliers and vendors for many of our components and the Regulator Rectifier Units are no exception. The cost of this particular component constitutes a negligible proportion of the cost of motorcycle but we constantly evaluate various options based on quality, technology, delivery and cost basis our on-going sourcing strategy," Royal Enfield replied.

Royal Enfield in a regulatory filing has said that it is fully prepared to meet the BSVI implementation timelines and to implement its growth strategy in all markets irrespective of the outcome of the case filed by Flash Electronics in a US court.

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