The original manufacturer of hybrid cars may not necessarily hold the patent for every bit of its Hybrid Synergy drive system. Bloomberg reported today that Toyota faces a patent infringement claim filed by Paice LLC of Bonita Springs LLC with the International Trade Commission (ITC).
Paice is seeking a ban on all imports of vehicles that use components that it says were its inventions. Those would include the third-generation Toyota Prius, the Camry Hybrid, the Lexus HS 250h and the Lexus RX 450h.
Paice won a 2005 jury verdict for a similar claim involving the Prius, Toyota Highlander Hybrid and RX 400h. In that case, the jury awarded $4.3 million in damages and the verdict was upheld on appeal. The federal district court rejected Paice's request to issue an order to halt sales of the Toyota vehicles, but the judge ordered Toyota to pay royalties based on the wholesale prices equal to 0.48 percent for a Prius II, 0.32 percent for each Highlander and 0.26 percent for each Lexus RX 400h. Toyota has appealed.
An out-and-out ban on Toyota hybrid imports is unlikely on this latest claim as well, says Green Car Advisor. Toyota will likely be able to continue selling its cars while mounting a lengthy legal challenge to Paice's latest complaint.
estreka says:
11:47 AM, 09/ 4/09
If I were Toyota, I would have just bought the company outright. Why pay a lawyer and get nothing when you can buy the company for the same price?
zoomzoomn says:
02:20 PM, 09/ 4/09
Wow. Yeah, hindsight being 20/20, what were they thinking when they "borrowed" this technology from another source? Did they think no one would notice? Of course, really, how many variations could there be on hybrid systems. It's pretty likely that they all are pretty similar. At least Nissan was honest and just bought Toyota's system from them for their Altima. Ooooo, wait. Does that make Nissan liable, too?
firstwagon says:
05:31 PM, 09/ 4/09
I worked with major companies long enough to know it's doubtful they "borrowed" the technology.
More likely both companies developed something simular but one patented it first.
Patent suits happen all the time in big business. Most have little merit and are very boring to read.
tryan says:
06:08 PM, 09/ 4/09
Erin;
While the manufacturer of several successful HEVs, I would by no means call Toyota "The original manufacturer of hybrid cars". It might be fair to say that they are the manufacturer who popularized the technology, but there have been many, many prior HEV manufacturers.