Dutch court orders JLR to destroy seized BYD Ti7 files within 24 hours

Jaguar Land Rover has been ordered to return or destroy documents it seized from BYD's Dutch offices in August, after the District Court of The Hague ruled on November 11 that the material was never needed for its Defender design case against the Chinese automaker.

Judge H.F.R. van Heemstra gave JLR 24 hours from formal notice to comply, with a penalty of €50,000 (about $55,000) for every hour it runs late, capped at €500,000 ($556,000). The underlying question of whether the BYD Ti7 copies the Land Rover Defender remains unresolved and is being heard in separate proceedings.

What the court decided

The seized documents came from court-appointed bailiffs acting on a JLR-requested order at BYD's offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp. The haul reportedly included Ti7 launch plans, technical data and financial records.

Van Heemstra found the files were not necessary to show the Ti7 copied the Defender's exterior design, nor to calculate damages, because BYD has not sold the Ti7 in the European Union. "The ruling lifts the evidence seizure but does not decide whether the SUV infringes JLR's intellectual property rights," the judge wrote. The court also barred JLR from taking further enforcement action under its original seizure authorization.

BYD had argued the seizure was an overreach that swept up unrelated research and development material. The court agreed the collection request was too broad and rejected JLR's separate bid for a surprise inspection of BYD's internal files.

The penalty and the costs

The €50,000 hourly penalty gives BYD real leverage if JLR drags its feet: each hour past the 24-hour window adds another €50,000 until the half-million-euro ceiling is reached. The ruling takes effect immediately, so JLR cannot wait out an appeal before complying.

The court also ordered BYD to pay €25,376.57 (about $28,200) in legal costs. That is a modest sum next to the potential hourly penalty, and it suggests the court saw the dispute as a procedural misstep by JLR rather than misconduct by BYD.

The design fight continues

None of this touches the central accusation. JLR still argues the Ti7 copies the Defender's design, and separate proceedings are underway in both Rotterdam and The Hague to settle that question. JLR's broader case claims BYD dismantled a Land Rover Defender to reverse-engineer its technology for use in the Ti7.

The procedural loss does not weaken that argument on its merits, but it does narrow the evidence JLR can lean on. With the seized files gone, the design case will rest on the vehicles themselves and whatever the separate proceedings produce.

When the infringement question itself will be resolved has not been announced. For now, the only fixed deadline is JLR's 24-hour window to destroy or return the documents.

Bentley has revealed two Remembrance-themed cars, a Bentayga Extended Wheelbase Artenara and a Supersports, that carry artwork inspired by John McCrae's 1915 poem "In Flanders Fields" and honour 17 colleagues who died serving the nation in wartime. The pair, which Bentley calls its "Poppy Cars," appeared at Mission Motorsport's Race of Remembrance at Anglesey in North Wales on November 11, 2026, and neither will be offered for sale.

What the two cars are

The Bentayga Extended Wheelbase Artenara and the Supersports are one-of-a-kind commissions rather than one-off builds made for customers, closer in spirit to Bentley's Continental GT tribute car than to a limited-run model line. The Supersports is Bentley's performance flagship, while the Bentayga Extended Wheelbase trades outright speed for a longer, more formal presence that suits a reflective theme.

Bentley has not published powertrain figures or performance specifications for either Remembrance car, so the two are best understood as design statements on existing platforms rather than new variants with their own mechanical specification.

The design and the people behind it

Bentley's design team developed the cars with BeReady, the company's internal network supporting employees connected to the armed forces. The exterior artwork is a considered piece built around peace, reflection and resilience rather than a wrap applied for the event.

Robin Page, Bentley's Director of Design, framed the project around feeling rather than appearance: "Design is often judged by what it looks like, but its greatest value lies in how it makes us feel". He said the cars were created to inspire reflection and to serve as a visible reminder that remembrance is not confined to a single day but is a legacy each generation must carry forward.

Chris Cole, Bentley's Product Line Director, said the vehicles show how craftsmanship can tell stories that matter, with every detail created to honour those who served.

The wider Remembrance weekend at Anglesey

The cars arrived at the 12-hour Race of Remembrance at Trac Môn Anglesey Circuit, an endurance event that drew more than 50 teams and 150 drivers, with racing paused mid-event for a pit-lane remembrance service. The paddock stopped for that service 86 years after the Battle of Britain.

The Bentleys were not the only tribute on site: a Mazda poppy art car built on a 1995 Mk1 MX-5 ran demonstration laps during the same weekend.

Bentley's record on armed forces support sits alongside the project. The company earned Gold Employer Recognition Scheme status in 2026, the top tier for employers supporting the armed forces community, and colleagues on the manufacturing line crocheted poppies by hand to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

That matters because the poppy cars are effectively a design and culture exercise rather than a product launch. For buyers, there is no new trim to order and no new powertrain to weigh up; the significance is in how Bentley uses its design studio and its BeReady network to mark service and loss, and in the visibility that a 12-hour race meeting gives that message.