News
- 21.07.2010 - Toyota settles patent dispute with Paice
Toyota has settled a long-running patent dispute with Paice, a small Florida-based company that has sought to bar US imports of Toyota hybrid vehicles, including the popular Prius hatchback.
The two companies declined to provide details of the settlement, beyond saying that they would drop all lawsuits.
They added in a statement on Monday that although certain Toyota vehicles have been found to be equivalent to a Paice patent, Toyota invented, designed and developed the Prius and Toyota’s hybrid technology independent of any inventions of Alex Severinsky, Paice’s founder who registered the disputed patents.
The dispute centred on a microprocessor that determines when a hybrid vehicle’s battery or its internal-combustion engine drives the wheels. Under a 2005 court ruling, Toyota was ordered to pay a sizeable royalty to Paice on sales of the Prius and other hybrid models.
