Overview
- Court-appointed bailiffs acting for Jaguar Land Rover executed raids on BYD offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp in August 2026 and seized digital records that JLR says are needed for its case.
- Lawyers for both companies appeared in The Hague this week as the court considers procedural questions about how the seized files may be used and whether the proceedings can advance.
- JLR alleges the BYD Ti7 infringes intellectual property tied to the Land Rover Defender and that elements may have been reverse-engineered during development.
- BYD has challenged the scope of the seizures, with its lawyers telling reporters that 'too many files were seized', and both firms have declined to comment publicly on the dispute.
- The case comes as the Ti7 moves toward international sales, including recent regulatory approval in Australia and planned UK launches, and follows JLR’s 2019 IP win in China that set a legal precedent for design disputes.