Toyota wins ITC case over hybrid patent

In September 2005, Florida based Solomon Technologies sued Toyota for infringing on a patent that they held on hybrid power-trains. Then in February 2006, they followed up with a complaint to the International Trade Commission to stop Toyota from importing hybrid vehicles. Today, an administrative law judge at the ITC declared that the Toyota system did not infringe on the patent and in fact one of the patent claims was invalid. So Toyota is safe for now, although the case is still subject to appeal to the full commission and also in federal court. This one is likely to go on for a while.

[Source: Automotive News - subscription required]