AP Racing continues to protect technology

AP Racing continues to protect brake technology in second patent case against Alcon Components

Following February 15th , 2017  court judgment, AP Racing announces that Alcon Components Limited has, once again, infringed the patent protecting AP Racing’s Radi-CAL™ concept for motorsport brake calipers.

As one of the world’s leaders in brake technology, AP Racing has a history of design and innovation that dates back to 1960, and believes that this decision underlines the value of investment in research and development. In a 2016 court ruling a range of Alcon’s NASCAR calipers were found to infringe AP Racing’s patent and Alcon was ordered to pay AP Racing £570,660 in damages, costs and interest. Following this, AP Racing became aware of other calipers in Alcon’s range which it believed infringed the same patent. Alcon tried, unsuccessfully, to stop AP Racing from taking action in respect of those calipers but, following last November’s trial, Alcon has once again been found to infringe the patent.

Commenting on the outcome AP Racing managing director, Steve Clarke, said: ‘Innovation is vital for the development of new technology and patent infringement is always an uncompetitive answer. The court’s decision safeguards our research and development investments and sends a clear message to the industry that the courts will not tolerate intellectual property infringement. AP Racing will always act to protect its intellectual property rights around the world in order to safeguard our research and development work going forward’.

Offering less mass, improved rigidity and better cooling characteristics than conventional brake caliper designs, the Radi-CAL™ concept was a major innovation in braking technology. The patented design was first developed by AP Racing in 2007 using the expertise and experience from its motorsport work. Since then AP Racing has produced over 90 different Radi-CAL™ caliper designs to date, and the company continues to refine the design process. The concept is protected by patents across Europe and in numerous other countries including the USA, China and Japan.

Share: