Doosan in court action over parallel imports
DOOSAN Infracore have taken out a high court action against Millar Tractors of Coleraine, Co. Derry, over trademark infringements as a result of the unauthorized importation of 24 hydraulic excavators from Thailand.
A Doosan spokesperson said: ‘In recent years there have been virtually no imports of Doosan products through non-authorized channels and the action of Millar has taken Doosan quite by surprise. We certainly do not intend to allow these products to be unlawfully imported and the action will be challenged very strongly.’
The 24 excavators in question were originally intended for a non-European market and, as such, their specifications are not compliant with European directives and other health and safety requirements. Doosan say their authorized products, built in Belgium, have to meet these directives and requirements at considerable commitment and cost to the company.
The company’s spokesperson continued: ‘We have a duty to our customers to stop these non-compliant imports as they lower the brand value and, if we allow any more to come in, it would cause confusion in the market and damage resale values.
‘In particular, many of these machines have non-compliant Stage II emission engines that were built in 2007 and are therefore breaking European directives for carbon emissions if imported after the 1 January 2007.’
In 2006 Doosan (previously Daewoo) enjoyed global sales in excess of $12.1 billion. In the UK and Ireland Doosan have built up a £100 million business which, in Ireland, represents a 10% market share in the tracked excavator sector.
