UK appliance maker Dyson has been defeated in the European Union's top court, losing its claim for a substantial €176 million in damages. The company had been embroiled in a legal dispute for ten years over what it deemed biased energy efficiency tests that favored competing bagged vacuums, putting its bagless models at a disadvantage
In 2014, Dyson challenged the EU's vacuum cleaner energy label regulations, which it argued not only gave misleading impressions of product efficiency to consumers but also favored German rival brands. The Court of Justice recently dismissed Dyson's appeal, backing the previous ruling of the General Court and conclusively rejecting the compensation claim.
Dyson's founder, Sir James Dyson, had criticized the regulation as prejudicial and claimed it diverted the company's focus and funds away from innovation. Despite a brief victory in 2018 when the General Court annulled the disputed labels, Dyson failed to secure compensation as the court determined the company did not incur regulation-related financial losses.
