Complaint on Toyota hybrid patent infringement reaches ITC
Last
year, Solomon Technologies Inc. sued Toyota Motor Corp. for the
Japanese automaker's alleged use of the company's hybrid technology patents like its Electric Wheel. The suit was filed
in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida.
Now, the U.S. International Trade Commission is stating that it
will honor Solomon's request to investigate the alleged infractions. Said Peter W. DeVecchis, Jr., president of Solomon,
“The investigation by the ITC is an important next step in our continuing prosecution of the infringement by
Toyota...with this news, we are intensifying our efforts to protect our intellectual property to the fullest extent
possible."
Toyota has yet to release an official response regarding the matter.
[Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DJ 2:24PM (2/11/2006)
Dear Sirs and or Ma'ams:
I've decided to sue AutoBlog. Twenty five years ago while I was busy inventing the Internet, I said to myself "Al, you've always loved cars, especially those high powered sports kind and those giant SUV's, so why not create a forum to talk about everything automotive." But I got busy writing books about the environment and all the wrong things cars do to us and put the idea on the back burner. Well, now I see the error of my ways, and besides, I need the money for my failing cable network. So you folks at AutoBlog send me a check for $152 Million or I'll see you in court.
Respectfully yours,
Former Vice President AlGore
PS - OK, I'll settle for fifty bucks, cause I have no job or future, and two days in the AutoBlog garage with a Prius.
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rw 3:48PM (2/11/2006)
can't wait for the toyota defenders from toyota marketing to start posting here on toyotablog
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Sgt. Hulka 4:49PM (2/11/2006)
How can this be? Shiny, happy people don't steal and cheat. A company this enviro-friendly and a worker's paradize doesn't just go out and steal stuff from others.
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Gary 11:28PM (2/11/2006)
Wait until we find out if Toyota actually did infringe on anything. Lots of people file baseless patent lawsuits. A few people file suits on solid grounds. We don't know which this is.
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Lithous 7:45PM (2/12/2006)
"Wait until we find out if Toyota actually did infringe on anything."
Yeah guys, save the guilty until proven innocent for the domestics. Maybe people are making assumptions because nothing has been said by Toyota (that I know of) about this, I don't see how a "We didn't use anyone elses patent" type statement would be inappropriate.
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marc 2:01AM (2/13/2006)
Lithous, ur so predictable.
Domestics have been proven guilty, many times over, of selling crap.
Toyota, however, has not had their day in court. You patriotic, nationalistic, jingoistic xenophobes surely belive in due process of law, do you not?
If (and that's a big if) Toyota and/or the courts find that there is any patent infringement, Toyota will pay up. But even that will not indicate malice. Many patents are inadvertently copied when more than one manufacturer is working on similar designs. There are only so many ways to skin a cat.
Go ahead, call me an import fanboy, its what you do best.
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