GT: New owner, lawsuit against Maverick, Klein | Ride MTB

GT: New owner, lawsuit against Maverick, Klein

Last week, the majority shareholding in Pacific Cycle (Schwinn, GT) was transferred from "Wind Point Partners" to the Canadian group Dorel Industries. The previous majority shareholder had been looking for an interested party for over a year. The new owner Dorel Industries, based in Montreal, has grown up manufacturing furniture and child seats. No sooner had the ownership changed than Pacific Cycle went to court against Maverick American and Klein for patent infringement: their rear triangle designs are said to infringe the patent rights of GT's i-Drive system.

In both the i-Drive models from GT and the Maverick and Klein Palomino models, the bottom bracket forms a separate unit that is structurally decoupled from the rear triangle and the main frame. However, there are also differences in the frame designs. Nevertheless, according to the industry newspaper Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, Pacific boss Chris Hornung believes he has a good chance of being successful in court with the patent infringement suit: "We have invested considerable resources in the development of this innovative rear triangle system and therefore want to protect our intellectual property."

Of course, those responsible at Maverick and Klein take a different view. Both Paul Turner and Trek lawyer Bob Burns are relaxed about the lawsuit: they point out that their rear suspension system differs in various details from that on GT's i-Drive bikes.


Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.