Toyota loses appeal in hybrid drive train patent case

Paice LLC sued Toyota in 2004 over three patents Paice said Toyota infringed with their hybrid drive train. The court ruled, in a jury verdict at a Texas court known for patent cases, that Toyota did infringe on one of the three patents and Toyota had to pay $25 per infringing car (Prius II, Toyota Highlander hybrid and Lexus RX400H) or $4.23 M. The court also ruled Toyota did not have to stop making cars that infringed on Paice's patents. Today, Bloomberg reported that the appeals court reaffirmed the ruling but did ask the lower court to revisit the reason for the $25 damages for every infringing car sold. Both companies appealed to a higher court.

[Source: Reuters]