Indian manufacturers always had a healthy competition, they even welcomed the foreign players entry into India. Things had been good, there were healthy competiton, there were healthy comments but recently it changed and the change is not on a welcome side. When TVS unveiled its 125cc Flame Bajaj reacted strongly that TVS copied its DTSi technology and it will lodge a strong case against TVS for infringing. TVS said that it would demand revocation of Bajaj patent and it would file a Rs 250-crore defamation suit against Bajaj. Inspite of this crossfirings, Bajaj and Srinivasan shooked hands infront of camera’s in the recent SIAM’s meet. It is believed that both Bajaj and TVS are opting for out of a court settlement and SJM(Swadeshi Jagran Manch convenor) leader S Gurumurthy is mediating between these parties. Contrary to all those beliefs TVS went ahead and filed two cases against Bajaj – One has been filed under Indian Patents Act in Chennai and another for defamation charges of Rs 250 crore in Mumbai High Court. The defamation case was filed by Dua Associates – attorneys of TVS in Mumbai High Court. TVS had applied for its revocation of Bajaj’s DTS-i patent at the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), Chennai. Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) on Saturday asserted it will take all necessary steps to protect its intellectual property in the ongoing patent row with rival TVS Motor. When we are finding it difficult to digest these happenings, the following press release makes it more difficult.
According to a Bajaj Auto release, two people employed with TVS Motors outlets in central and eastern India have been caught red handed distributing leaflets allegedly containing misleading and wrong information on Bajaj products. Bajaj Auto alleges that due to better product initiatives taken by it, the competition have been put under ‘severe pressure’, driving them to completely unethical and undesirable actions. Bajaj Auto dealers nabbed Santosh Kumar Rath and Sunil Kumar Sahu distributing leaflets stating Bajaj Auto is “phasing out the Bajaj Platina 100cc motorcycles and that the ongoing discount on the bike is a part of stock clearance sale”. Rath is an employee of Krishna TVS of Puri, Orissa, a Bajaj press statement said today. Vimal Sumbly, national sales manager, Bajaj Auto, said: “The Platina has met with a tremendous response from consumers. We have no plan of discontinuing this hugely successful product. We are monitoring these types of unethical practices by competitors very closely. We see these activities as desperate measures by them to arrest the overwhelming success of our brands.” “We will not tolerate such unethical behavior on the part of the competition and we are planning to take police action at every location to bring this to a stop”, he further added. A TVS Motors spokesperson, said “TVS is unaware of any such action. The company will not indulge in any such activities and shall investigate the matter”. Bajaj also holds the ‘competition’ responsible for spreading incorrect news on the company’s XCD125 motorcycle last week, that the bikes were being recalled for rectification. An FIR has been filed against Krishna TVS by the Puri dealer of Bajaj Auto. Bajaj claims that it has received information that a similar vilification campaign is being carried out in Surat, Gujarat.
TVS refutes charges:
TVS Motor Company said in a statement on Sunday it has received information that Bajaj Auto has levelled an accusation against it. The information claimed that some TVS dealers resorted to unethical conduct to damage the reputation of Bajaj Auto. TVS Motor Company would like to clarify that it neither believes nor indulges in such unethical practices and will not condone any such action, if taken by anyone in its system,” the statement added.
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