Pacific Cycle, owner of the Schwinn, Mongoose and GT brands, has filed a patent infringement suit against Maverick American and Klein Bicycle Corp. (a division of Trek), claiming the competitors are using its patented technology.
Pacific Cycle filed the lawsuit in the Colorado District Court alleging that Maverick was using Pacific Cycle's patented iDrive crank assembly suspension system technology on its ML7 bicycles, and Klein was using the same technology on its Palomino bicycles.
“Jim Busby and GT developed and patented the iDrive suspension system and Pacific Cycle inherited that patent when it acquired Schwinn and GT in 2001,” explained Pacific Cycle's general counsel and vice president of corporate development Jeff Frehner. “The iDrive is synonymous with GT and is at the core of what GT represents: cutting-edge bicycle design and technology.”
The lawsuit would stop Maverick and Klein from using the iDrive technology.
“We take our proprietary technology very seriously here at Pacific Cycle,” said the company's founder and CEO Chris Hornung. “It's a big part of what makes our bicycles among the best in the industry, and our independent bike dealers expect this level of innovation from us. It's unfortunate that we have to take legal action, but we will protect our technology by any means necessary to continue supplying independent bike dealers with the highest level of bike design.”
