Danish company Needit faces temporary ban on Park Lite Solar following court ruling

Danish company Needit Danmark ApS, which owns the parking disc ParkOne, has received a temporary ban on the sale of its Park Lite Solar model, as determined by the Maritime and Commercial High Court. Needit, the world’s largest producer of electronic parking discs, is facing a lawsuit from Andersen-Group, which produces the electronic parking disc Park Solar.

Søren Andersen, director of Samatech, associated with Andersen-Group, expressed concerns over Needit’s product, noting that a description of Park Lite Solar closely resembles that of Park Solar, even sharing a similar name.

As a result of the court’s decision, Needit is prohibited from “manufacturing, having manufactured, importing, marketing, offering, distributing, and/or using the product,” according to the ruling. Needit plans to appeal the decision, with director Peter Vikkelsø Skou stating they were surprised by the verdict. He mentioned they advised retailers to remove the product from their inventory pending further developments.

The court ruling highlights that Andersen-Group’s patent involves a parking disc that can switch between solar energy during daylight and battery power at night. However, according to Skou, Needit’s product does not possess this ability; the solar panels in their model only extend battery life and do not allow it to operate solely on solar power. Notably, Needit claims to hold a patent permitting the use of solar energy as the primary power source.

While the temporary ban is pending further review by the Eastern High Court, it immediately affects sales and marketing of Park Lite Solar in Denmark. Needit expects financial implications but currently lacks clarity on potential costs. Should they win their appeal, the company intends to re-launch Park Lite Solar, otherwise, they plan to introduce a version redesigned to avoid patent infringements. Needit also faces legal costs amounting to 825,824 kroner to Andersen-Group, which does not cover all expenses incurred by Andersen-Group. The timeline for the case’s review by the Eastern High Court remains unknown.