Thule has filed two lawsuits in US and Canadian Courts against Swiss Cargo and its parent company, GSC Technologies of Champlain, NY. The suits allege that Swiss Cargo represented Thule and Sportrack products as their own, which is a violation of U.S. and Canadian intellectual property laws.
Thule claims that Swiss Cargo has either copied or impermissibly relabeled/rebranded Thule’s 970/971 Helium bicycle rack, 844 Roll Model, 91725 Universal Flat Top 6, 91724 Universal Flat Top 4, A21030 roof basket and ABR511 kayak carrier. The US lawsuit also states that Swiss Cargo violated Thule’s US Patent Numbers 6,023,821 and 5,546,705 and U.S. Design Patent Numbers D415,096, D614,563 and D614,564.
“We have tried to avoid a lawsuit,” remarked Fred Clark, President of Thule, Inc. “We have communicated trying to settle the matter but have not received an adequate response; therefore we needed to take legal action.”
Thule is seeking unspecified damages.
