Janbaz
10-05-2006, 12:02 PM
Textron sues over helicopters made by Iran
The Iranian government is accused of using trade secrets and patented designs to manufacture helicopters that resemble six models made by Textron's Bell Helicopter unit.
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, October 4, 2006
BY JEFF ST.ONGE
Bloomberg News
Textron Inc.'s Bell Helicopter unit is suing Iran, accusing the Islamic republic and two state-owned companies of making counterfeit helicopters.
Bell Helicopter says the Iranian government, Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Co. and Iran Helicopter Support & Renewal Co. are using trade secrets, trademarks and patented designs to make helicopters that resemble six Bell models.
The knockoffs, sold under the Shahed 276 and Shabaviz 275 names, and fake parts "trade on Bell's reputation," according to the suit filed Sept. 29 in U.S. District Court in Washington. Bell asked the court to order the Tehran-based companies to stop making the helicopters and award damages.
The dispute traces back more than 30 years. Textron agreed to help develop Iran's helicopter industry in 1975, four years before the overthrow of the U.S.-backed monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran's current government and the two companies are "illegally copying Bell's designs and aircraft," in part by using technologies introduced under the accord, Bell said.
Karen Gordon, a spokeswoman for Providence-based Textron, declined to give immediate comment. Mohammad Mohammadi, the press contact for Iran's United Nations mission in New York, didn't immediately return a voicemail message.
Shares of Textron, which had sales of $10 billion last year, rose 32 cents yesterday to close at $88.51 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Bell agreed in 1994 to send five commercial helicopters to Iran and provide spare parts and training to settle a lawsuit in which Iran claimed that the company owed more than $200 million in equipment and services for payments made in the 1970s.
The case is Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Case No. 06cv1694, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
http://www.projo.com/business/content/projo_20061004_bell04.2f016ce.html (http://www.projo.com/business/content/projo_20061004_bell04.2f016ce.html)
The Iranian government is accused of using trade secrets and patented designs to manufacture helicopters that resemble six models made by Textron's Bell Helicopter unit.
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, October 4, 2006
BY JEFF ST.ONGE
Bloomberg News
Textron Inc.'s Bell Helicopter unit is suing Iran, accusing the Islamic republic and two state-owned companies of making counterfeit helicopters.
Bell Helicopter says the Iranian government, Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Co. and Iran Helicopter Support & Renewal Co. are using trade secrets, trademarks and patented designs to make helicopters that resemble six Bell models.
The knockoffs, sold under the Shahed 276 and Shabaviz 275 names, and fake parts "trade on Bell's reputation," according to the suit filed Sept. 29 in U.S. District Court in Washington. Bell asked the court to order the Tehran-based companies to stop making the helicopters and award damages.
The dispute traces back more than 30 years. Textron agreed to help develop Iran's helicopter industry in 1975, four years before the overthrow of the U.S.-backed monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran's current government and the two companies are "illegally copying Bell's designs and aircraft," in part by using technologies introduced under the accord, Bell said.
Karen Gordon, a spokeswoman for Providence-based Textron, declined to give immediate comment. Mohammad Mohammadi, the press contact for Iran's United Nations mission in New York, didn't immediately return a voicemail message.
Shares of Textron, which had sales of $10 billion last year, rose 32 cents yesterday to close at $88.51 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Bell agreed in 1994 to send five commercial helicopters to Iran and provide spare parts and training to settle a lawsuit in which Iran claimed that the company owed more than $200 million in equipment and services for payments made in the 1970s.
The case is Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Case No. 06cv1694, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
http://www.projo.com/business/content/projo_20061004_bell04.2f016ce.html (http://www.projo.com/business/content/projo_20061004_bell04.2f016ce.html)