Sany president responds to Manitowoc lawsuit and allegations of patent infringement

Updated Jun 21, 2013
Manitowoc alleges that the Sany SCC8500 crawler crane infringes upon two of its patents.Manitowoc alleges that the Sany SCC8500 crawler crane infringes upon two of its patents.

Sany President President Xiang Wenbo has released a statement in response to a lawsuit and allegations of patent infringement filed against his company by Manitowoc Cranes.

A federal lawsuit against Sany was filed last week in Wisconsin. And on June 12 Manitowoc also filed a complaint before the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging that Sany’s SCC8500 Crane infringes two Manitowoc patents.

“The SANY SCC8500 crawler crane was developed from start to finish by SANY engineers, using our own ideas and our own technological innovations,” Wenbo says. “We categorically reject the claims made by Manitowoc and stand fully behind our market-leading products. SANY will respond actively to this legal action through appropriate legal measures to protect our own intellectual property.”

The disagreement between the two companies was a large focus in a recent article from CNN and Fortune magazine. The article detailed Sany’s hire of 24-year Manitowoc veteran crane engineer John Lanning. A lawsuit served to Lanning by Manitowoc lawyers at the 2011 ConExpo/ConAgg show alleges that Lanning broke a two-year contract agreement to join Sany and that he poached Manitowoc employees to join him at Sany.

Manitowoc’s patent complaint says the patents infringed are a result of Sany’s hire of Lanning. Manitowoc has asked the International Trade Commission to ban the import and sale of the SCC8500 based on the allegations of patent infringement.

“We will continue to bring innovations to market, and offer choices for our customers in North America and around the world,” Wenbo says in his response.