Giant sent a note to its retailers last week saying they can continue selling Maestro-equipped mountain bikes without fear of an ongoing legal dispute over alleged patent infringement.
DW-Link, owned by Dave Weagle, had filed a patent infringement breach of contract suit against Giant in February that arose out of Weagle doing suspension development work for the company.
“We don’t comment on pending litigation. Our intention with the email is to reassure Giant retailers that they can certainly continue selling with complete assurance bicycles equipped with Giant’s Maestro Suspension Technology,” said Patrick VanHorn, Giant USA’s corporate communications manager.
The suit in part claims that Giant’s Maestro designs infringe upon DW-Link patents 7,048,292, 7,128,329, and 7,828,314. The suit also claims that Giant breached a 2010 joint development agreement to develop a new suspension platform called G+ Technology.
Weagle also filed suit against Trek Bicycle in November last year. The suit claims Trek infringes on two patents that are the foundation of DW-Link's Split-Pivot designs. The suit claims all Trek bikes using Active Braking Pivot technology infringe its patents.
