JD Pools managing director Thanusak Phungdet said yesterday the company was waiting for its Legal Department to determine which allegations should be filed against DeJoyaux and to calculate the damages. The company expects to conclude its preparations within the next week.

The case stems from an August 18 incident in which representatives of DeJoyaux (Thailand) Co Ltd, the Thai unit of the France-based DeJoyaux, brought officers from the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) as well as television and print journalists on a raid on JD Pools' warehouse in Phuket. The French company accused JD Pools of violating a patent on its design for swimming pool walls. The officers seized goods stored at the warehouse.

The pending lawsuit comes in response to an earlier suit filed by DeJoyaux, which accused JD Pools of illegally using its swimming pool technology.

JD Pools and DeJoyaux were previously business partners. DeJoyaux asked JD Pools to be its sole distributor in Thailand in 1997. DeJoyaux later decided that it wanted full control of its operations here so it ended its partnership with JD Pools in 2004.

After the separation, JD Pools started making walls and swimming pool filters in a bid to directly compete with DeJoyaux.

Thanusak said JD Pools started selling swimming pool equipment because DeJoyaux had struck out on its own.

Shortly afterwards, DeJoyaux filed two lawsuits against JD Pools, accusing it of violating the use of DeJoyaux trademarks and logos by continuing to operate under the name JD Pools, because the company had been set up originally to sell DeJoyaux products.

Thanusak said the company had not violated any patents on DeJoyaux's swimming pool wall design. He said the company had developed its own technology for making swimming pool walls and other products.

"It's like many passenger cars that use the same concept of producing doors but they are manufactured with different kinds of technology," he said.

Thanusak described the incident on August 18 as an attempt by DeJoyaux to destroy JD Pools' reputation. He said the DSI may have had the authority to seize products at JD Pools' warehouse, but it was not right for DeJoyaux to bring journalists along to document the raid.

Thanusak said DSI officers not only seized swimming pool walls, but also a variety of other products worth about Bt5 million. He said DSI officers transported all of the goods on three trucks back to their office. Footage of raid was later broadcast on Channels 7 and 11.

He said the DSI had never before looked into its operations.

He said that the company had already calculated its commercial losses arising from the raid and that he expected the company would have to spend further sums to reverse the damage to its reputation.

Thanusak said JD Pools had been waiting for the DSI to contact the company in connection with the investigation. He said he had received no word from the officers.

He said there were numerous differences in the pool walls built by JD Pools and DeJoyaux. However, he said the company had never filed for its own patent on its pool wall design with the Department of Intellectual Property.

Thanusak said it was possible that DeJoyaux had only recently received a patent on its wall design. He said the two companies' wall designs might have accidentally used the same technology.

As far as its future business plans, JD Pools plans to start selling finished swimming pools under its own Harmony brand.

Thailand's finished swimming-pool market is worth Bt2 billion to Bt3 billion. JD Pools and DeJoyaux are two of the leading companies in the market.

In the first half of this year, JD Pools reported revenue of Bt200 million. The company expects to generate total sales of Bt400 million this year. Part of those sales will come from exports. The company currently sells swimming pool equipment in China, Vietnam, the United States and several countries in the Europe Union.

Thanusak said the recent legal troubles had not had any effect on the company's sales, though many of its customers had called to ask about the situation.

In addition to its swimming pool operations, the company imports Nylex, Onga, Master Spas, and Autumn Solar pool equipment.

It currently has seven showrooms nationwide and plans to open three more by the end of the year. Also, it expects to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand by 2008.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation