Polaris Obtains Favorable Settlement
Polaris Industries Inc. announced that it received a favorable result regarding the enforcement of its intellectual property rights.
Polaris previously filed suit against Jerrico and CSK for the import and sale of ATVs that infringe Polaris’ US Patent No. 6,270,106 and trade dress rights. Polaris obtained a settlement from the parties. Jerrico is no longer in business and no longer imports or sells ATVs.
“We view this as an important victory for us in enforcing our intellectual property rights,” says Mary McConnell, general counsel of Polaris Industries Inc. “Polaris will continue to take further action against infringers where appropriate.”
When asked exactly what product was infringed upon, Polaris would not provide details. However, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent No. 6,270,106, which was filed by Polaris in 1998, involves the following:
An all terrain vehicle with a foot-shifted manual transmission and a full platform-style footrest. The all terrain vehicle has a chassis carrying a straddle-type seat which is sufficiently narrow to be straddled by a rider. A laterally extending footrest is provided on each side of the chassis.
The manual transmission includes a foot-operable shift lever located on one side of the chassis adjacent the footrest for shifting the transmission among a plurality of forward gears. The footrest is generally rectangular, having generally horizontal heel and toe portions, and the shift lever is positioned at approximately the same height as the heel portion. The toe portion is positioned lower than the heel portion, permitting a rider to depress the shift lever to a position lower than the heel portion of the footrest to downshift the transmission, and permitting the rider to insert his toe in between the toe portion of the footrest and the shifting lever to move the lever upwards to upshift the transmission. The platform is configured and arranged so as to prevent a toe of a rider’s shoe from extending therethrough, however, thus providing full protection of the foot from below.
The footrest includes a cleat formed integrally with the platform, the cleat having an upper surface positioned higher than the heel portion of the footrest. The cleat defines the forward edge of the heel portion and the rearward edge of the toe portion of the footrest, provides good foot heel location on the footrest and provides an edge about which the rider’s foot may pivot during shifting.
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