Garmin’s transducer will not be sold in the US

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has ruled that a transducer product should not admitted into the country, following a patent dispute between two marine electronics manufacturers.

CBP found that US-headquartered Garmin’s “tilted” DownVü products infringe Navico’s DownScan Imaging patents.

“We are very pleased that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has ruled in our favor,” said Leif Ottosson, CEO of Navico. “CBP is tasked with facilitating lawful trade, and this ruling -- independent from the ITC -- further reinforces our claims that Garmin has been marketing and selling patent-infringing products. This again sends a clear message to Garmin that they may not import the offending products.”

The ruling addresses Garmin’s “tilted” DownVü transducer design with CBP and follows an Enforcement Initial Determination (EID) filed by an International Trade Commission (ITC) administrative law judge last month, which found that Garmin violated the cease-and-desist orders issued in 2015 regarding the importation and sale of products featuring tilted DownVü scanning sonar technology.

The ruling ends a dispute which has been active for over two years, however, outside of the US, Garmin sells products with the “tilted” element design under its ClearVü name.

Navico holds DownScan patents in the EU and Australia similar to its US patents and said it expects Garmin to cease selling the “tilted” transducer design in these jurisdictions.