Jaguar Land Rover seizes digital files from BYD in Dutch court-ordered raid

Court-ordered bailiffs acting for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) seized digital records from BYD’s offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp, Netherlands, during a raid conducted in August. The seizure is part of a legal dispute over whether BYD’s Ti7 sport-utility vehicle infringes JLR’s intellectual property rights in the Land Rover Defender. A Dutch court is set to rule this week on the merits of the claim.

JLR alleges that BYD may have reverse-engineered components of the Defender to develop the Ti7, which is priced about £20,000 lower than the British model and is slated for a UK launch in January at £47,995. BYD’s representatives said they had cooperated with JLR’s information requests, while the company’s lawyers described the seizure as a “fishing expedition” and said “too many files were seized”.

Legal advisers for JLR accused BYD of attempting to obstruct the seizure, and bailiffs reportedly described the company’s delaying tactics as unprecedented. The case was filed in the Netherlands, which JLR views as a jurisdiction favorable to intellectual-property claims. A preliminary ruling in The Hague is scheduled for Wednesday.

The dispute occurs amid growing Chinese presence in the UK automotive market, where Chinese-owned brands accounted for 23% of new registrations in September. BYD has not commented on the proceedings, and JLR declined to provide a statement.