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Detroit (AP) - In the legal dispute between Volkswagen and Prevent, the former supplier of the car manufacturer in the USA has to put a damper on.
Judge Bernard Friedman dismissed the Bosnian group's lawsuit against VW for alleged anti-competitive behavior on Monday (local time) in a court in Detroit, Michigan, according to court documents.
The judge thus granted a request from VW.
The court found that the present case was the continuation of a legal dispute in Germany between European companies, in which it was allegedly illegal business conduct of a German company in Germany - and therefore it should also be heard in Germany.
A VW spokesman said in an initial reaction that the decision ranks among judgments in favor of the car manufacturer.
No comment was initially received from Prevent in Germany.
A US lawyer in the group said in an email to the Bloomberg news agency that it was disappointed with the decision, but that it was only postponing the inevitable.
Ultimately, Volkswagen will still have to answer for its misconduct in a court of law.
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Prevent had argued that VW had unlawfully colluded with other companies to prevent acquisitions by Prevent in the US, causing the group to suffer damage of between 750 million and one billion dollars.
VW had replied that Prevent's allegations were baseless and did not belong in US courts.
VW and Prevent have been arguing in court for years, since the VW group of companies, which is controlled by the Bosnian entrepreneur family Hastor, forced VW to halt production in several plants in the meantime with a delivery stop of parts.
The reason was a dispute over delivery conditions and prices.
Further proceedings are currently pending before the courts, such as the Braunschweig Regional Court.
But Prevent is also pending another lawsuit in a Detroit court in the United States.
Prevent accuses Volkswagen and the seat manufacturers Adient and Lear of anti-competitive behavior in order to exclude Prevent from the market for seat covers for cars.
Volkswagen denied the allegations.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210323-99-934888 / 2