| Bajaj Auto has decided to sue its competitor TVS Motor for infringement of its patented engine technology. |
| TVS had on Thursday unveiled seven new products, including a new 125cc bike, Flame, which Bajaj said used the same digital twin spark technology that it had patented in 2006 for its motorbikes. |
| S Sridhar, chief executive of two-wheelers for Bajaj, said, "We are shocked to see TVS using our patented technology for its 125cc Flame motorcycle." |
| Sridhar said the company's lawyers were looking into the matter and would decide on the next course of action. "We will not let the bike (Flame) go under production with that engine", he added. |
| TVS, which was planning to launch the bike in October, denied it had infringed on anyone's technology. Prasad Narsimhan, senior vice-president (marketing), TVS Motors, said, "A bike can have two spark plugs... it's nothing unusual. We have also incorporated three valves on the same engine, which is the first of its kind in India. Bajaj Auto is free to do what it wants." |
| The DTSi technology developed by Bajaj Auto and used for the first time on the Pulsar range is made to deliver better fuel efficiency and improved power. |
| Although the twin spark plug system is not the first in the world, as bike makers such as Ducati had been using the same technology (twin spark plugs) on bigger engine capacity bikes (800cc-1000cc), Bajaj claims to be the first company to have used the same technology on smaller engine capacity bikes (150cc-220cc). |
| Bajaj is scheduled to launch in September a new 125 cc motorbike that it expects will wean customers from the low-margin 100cc segment dominated by leader Hero Honda Motors. |
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