Toyota US trade case may threaten Prius imports

• Source: Gasgoo.com
• [15:58 September 04 2009]
• Comments

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest seller of autos powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity, faces a patent-infringement claim that may result in a US import ban on its Prius and other hybrid models.

Closely held Paice LLC filed a complaint yesterday with the US International Trade Commission in Washington, claiming Toyota is infringing its patent. The company seeks an order to ban imports of Toyota products using its invention.

Paice won a jury verdict in 2005 that the Prius and hybrid Highlander and Lexus RX400h sport-utility vehicles used Paice inventions related to drivetrains. The new ITC complaint claims the hybrid Camry, third-generation Prius, Lexus HS250h sedan and Lexus RX450h SUV infringe the same patent.

"Given the momentum Toyota hybrids have in the marketplace, I don't foresee a situation where their hybrid sales stop," said Ed Kim, an analyst at AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, California. "Toyota has been pretty good about looking ahead, so it would be surprising if they hadn't foreseen and prepared for something like this."

In the complaint, Paice said Toyota is precluded from arguing that the additional vehicles don't infringe the patent or challenging its validity because of the 2005 verdict, which was upheld on appeal. The hybrid drivetrains of the vehicles in the ITC case "are materially the same" as those in the Lexus and Toyota models in the civil case, Paice said in the complaint.

That same patent will be at the center of another trial set to begin Oct. 1 in federal court in Marshall, Texas, involving the Camry. Paice claims the hybrid sedan infringes two other patents. A second case pending in Marshall involves claims of infringement of another patent by the Highlander and Lexus models.

(Bloomberg)