Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it had settled a years-long dispute with a US company that had claimed the Japanese automaker used its technology without permission in its hybrids. The deal ends a squabble that had briefly threatened to block the Prius from being sold in the US.
Toyota and Paice LLC said they had settled their patent dispute and agreed to have all lawsuits between them dismissed. The terms were confidential, the companies said. No financial details were disclosed.
“After six years of litigation, we are pleased to reach a settlement with Toyota,” Paice chairman Frances Keenan said in a statement.
Paice, based in Bonita Springs, Florida, had claimed that popular Toyota hybrids like the third-generation Prius and the Lexus HS250h contain technology that violated its hybrid engine patents.
Paice first sued Toyota in 2004 claiming infringement and filed a second lawsuit against the automaker in 2007. Paice asked US trade regulators to block the import of the vehicles to the US. In October last year, the International Trade Commission (ITC), the Washington based body that investigates claims of trade violations, agreed to open its own investigation into the patent dispute.
A trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday. If the ITC had sided with Paice, a number of penalties could have followed, including a possible ban on the import of the hybrids using the patented technology.
Toyota and Paice said they had agreed that although Toyota’s hybrids contain technology equivalent to that made by Paice, Toyota developed its hybrid technology independently.
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