A Dutch court has ordered Jaguar Land Rover to lift its seizure of BYD documents, in a setback for JLR’s case alleging that the BYD Ti7 copies the Land Rover Defender.
The District Court of The Hague ruled that JLR may no longer hold the administrative records it seized from BYD, Dutch news agency ANP reported on 11 November. Court-ordered bailiffs acting for JLR took digital records from BYD’s offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp in August, as we reported earlier this week.
JLR alleges that the Ti7 infringes its EU design rights for the Defender, and seized the documents to secure evidence for a lawsuit. BYD objected to the seizure.
According to ANP, the court found that JLR does not need the documents to show that the Ti7 is a copy of the Defender. It also found the records were not needed to establish the extent of any damages, because BYD has never sold the Ti7 in the EU.
The ruling does not decide whether the Ti7 infringes JLR’s rights. JLR has said it does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings, and BYD has also declined to comment.
Ti7 timing
The Ti7, sold in China as the Fang Cheng Bao Tai 7, goes on sale in the UK in January at £47,995.
BYD New Zealand general manager Warren Willmot told AutoTrader NZ that the case would not delay the car’s local launch “as far as we have been advised”, and that it remains in the brand’s plans for 2027. “No dates have been locked in for our local launch at this time,” he said.
