Dutch court orders JLR to destroy seized BYD files, imposes penalties
A Hague court ruled that Jaguar Land Rover must destroy files seized from BYD’s Dutch offices within 24 hours, imposing hourly fines for non-compliance and rejecting JLR’s claim for damages.
A Dutch district court in The Hague ordered Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to instruct the bailiff or court-appointed custodian to destroy files seized from BYD’s offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp within 24 hours of formal service of the ruling. Failure to comply will trigger a penalty of 50,000 euros (about 55,385 USD) per hour, capped at 500,000 euros (553,850 USD).
Judge H.F.R. van Heemstra issued the preliminary decision on 11 November, overturning an August seizure that had been authorized ex parte. The court found that JLR did not need the seized records to support its design-infringement claims, noting that BYD had not yet sold the Ti 7 in the European Union. The ruling lifts the seizure but does not resolve the underlying dispute over whether the BYD Ti 7 copies the Land Rover Defender’s exterior design.
The judge also dismissed JLR’s request for a 500,000-euro penalty against BYD, concluding that the Chinese automaker had complied with the original seizure order. BYD was ordered to pay 25,376.57 euros (28,110 USD) in legal costs and must provide independent confirmation that the files have been destroyed. Any further enforcement action by JLR would attract a separate penalty of 500,000 euros.
JLR has launched separate proceedings in The Hague and Rotterdam, seeking protection for the Defender’s EU design rights and alleging copyright and slavish-imitation violations. The dispute remains open as BYD prepares to launch the Ti 7 in the United Kingdom, with a seven-seat Excellence AWD model priced at £47,995 (63,660 USD) and scheduled for showroom arrival in November 2026.