AUX awarded $26.3m in Gree compressor case

CHINA: Air conditioning manufacturer Gree has been ordered to pay Chinese competitor AUX Air Conditioning about RMB167m (US$26.3m) for infringing a compressor patent. 

According to Chinese website The Paper, two judgments were handed down by the Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court of Zhejiang Province for breach of a patent relating to a compressor originally patented by Toshiba Carrier Air Conditioning. The rights were transferred by Toshiba Air Conditioning to AUX in 2018.

Gree is reported to be appealing the court’s decision and has, additionally, filed a lawsuit with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court for the invalidation of the patent.

This is not the first time the two Chinese manufacturers have met in court. Gree Electric Appliances and AUX Air Conditioning have filed lawsuits on patent rights several times before, according to the Pandaily. 

In 2017, Gree Electric Appliances won nearly RMB50m (US$7.9m) after suing AUX in an air conditioner patent dispute.