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Hayes, Muchachos Settle Lawsuits

Published March 4, 2009

MEQUON, WI (BRAIN)—Hayes Bicycle Group and Muchachos International announced Wednesday that they have settled all outstanding lawsuits in their long-running dispute that reached from Milwaukee to Taichung, Taiwan.

A one-sentence joint press release from Hayes lawyer Ann Maher gave no details.

“Hayes Bicycle Group and Muchachos today announced that they had settled all pending litigation and disputes with both parties denying any wrongdoing,” the release said in its entirety.

The dispute spawned some eight civil and criminal cases in Taiwan and the United States. Muchachos was a former manufacturing partner that made Hayes brakes in Taiwan.

Muchachos had registered the Hayes trademark in Taiwan, and when relations fell apart, the Taiwan firm prevented Hayes from using the trademark on its Taiwan-made brakes— essentially forcing Hayes to come up with a new brand name, HB Performance Systems.

But Muchachos founder Lynn Miles, an American who has lived in Taiwan for nearly two decades, said relations disintegrated when he rejected an offer from Hayes to buy Muchachos.

The announcement comes in the eve of the Taipei Cycle show, which opens March 17.

For more information, be sure to read the April 1 issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News.

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