During initial flight testing, the Bell 429 was equipped with skid gear that Eurocopter says was a patent infringement on its own sleigh-style skid gear that is on the EC120 and EC130. Mike Reyno Photo
Bell Helicopter is claiming victory in the latest chapter of its ongoing dispute with Eurocopter surrounding the design of the Bell 429s skid gear. Eurocopter has claimed that Bell infringed the patent of Eurocopters sleigh style design used on the EC120 and EC130, and brought legal action against Bell in Canadian, French and U.S. courts.
Following the Federal Court of Canadas judgement back in February (after which both sides claimed victory), Frances Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris has now ruled that the 429s production skid gear does not infringe Eurocopters skid gear patent. The court ordered Eurocopter to pay the costs of the proceedings, and pay Bell Helicopter Inc. and Bell Canada 65,000 each in costs.
“This ruling by the French court, once again validating the design of the Bell 429 production skid gear, is a resounding victory for Bell Helicopter,” said John L. Garrison, Bells president and CEO.
The previous judgement from the Federal Court of Canadas Justice Luc Marineau found that Bell had exhibited deliberate and outrageous conduct in designing the original landing gear for the 429, which infringed on Eurocopters patent. However, Martineau found that the 429s production landing gear does not infringe the patent.
Eurocopter applied for its Canadian patent in June 1997, based on an application filed in France a year earlier, but it was not approved until December 2002. When the subsidiary of the EADS aerospace conglomerate filed its suit, Bell whose helicopter was not certified in North America and Europe until 2009 filed a counterclaim in a bid to invalidate the patent.
Upon learning of the suit, Bell changed what Martineaus ruling describes as its legacy design, altering fundamental curvatures and extending the skids beyond the front arch, but Eurocopter amended its statement of claim to include the production redesign. For Eurocopter, the legacy gear is nothing more than a simple copy, Martineau noted. Eurocopter also claims that the changes made to the legacy gear, resulting in the production gear, are merely cosmetic, and that both gears are functionally equivalent.
Garrison said Bell would continue to vigorously defend its production gear in the pending U.S. infringement suit. This [French court] ruling underscores the Canadian court’s decision in a similar ruling in favor of Bell Helicopter and provides strong support for our position,” said Garrison.
