Jaguar Land Rover trying to BLOCK Audi, Porsche, VW and Lamborghini SUV imports to U.S.

Jaguar Land Rover are trying to block imports of VW, Audi, Lamborghini and Porsche SUVs in to the US over patent breaches.

There are plenty of car makers building big, expensive SUVs, but if you want an SUV that can do the on-road float and the off-road mud-plug equally well, then you’ll probably turn to products from Jaguar Land Rover, and especially Land Rover models.

That’s down to Land Rover’s 70-odd years experience in building off-road vehicles, and the constantly improving Terrain Response system which now makes sure you can negotiate any surface you encounter without breaking sweat.

But it seems, at least according to a Jaguar Land Rover complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (reported by Bloomberg), that big SUVs from Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and VW have also turned to JLR for the best off-road chops, and are using JLR’s patented Terrain Response system without permission.

JLR’s lawyer, Matthew Moore, said in the complaint:

JLR seeks to protect itself and its United States operations from companies that have injected infringing products into the U.S. market that incorporate, without any license from JLR, technology developed by JLR and protected by its patent.

It seems JLR is using the International Trade Commission because the process is quicker than the courts, and although the Trade Commission can’t award damages it can block the imports of the ‘offending’ vehicles.

This could get interesting.