Patent Law

The following is excerpted from an October 17, 2008 PRNewswire item that appeared at automotive.com:

Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the United States, today announced a final judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of its clients, ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF), ArvinMeritor, Inc. and ZF Meritor LLC, distributors of the FreedomLine(TM) heavy duty truck transmission systems, in a patent infringement case begun in 2003. The jury verdict marks the last step in a complete victory in defending against eleven patents originally asserted by Eaton Corporation.

Eaton, an Ohio-based manufacturer of automotive and truck parts, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Judge George C. Steeh presided over the trial, which began on September 23, 2008. Brinks clients, ZF and ArvinMeritor, challenged Eaton's assertion that the FreedomLine transmission infringed claims 8 and 9 of U.S. Patent No. 5,624,350, which relates to a method of automated clutch control and calibrations and also challenged the validity of those claims, as well as claims 1, 3-6, 12 and 14-17 of U.S. Patent No. 5,664,458, which relates to a rolling-start control system for semi-automated mechanical transmissions.

After a seven-day jury trial, the jury found for ZF and ArvinMeritor on all counts. On October 16, the court entered final judgment that: 1) claims 8 and 9 of U.S. Patent No. 5,624,350 not infringed; 2) claims 8 and 9 of U.S. Patent No. 5,624,350 invalid; and, 3) claims 1, 3-6, 12, and 14-17 of U.S. Patent No. 5,664,458 invalid. The court had previously entered summary judgment that a third patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,899,279 is invalid.

Read the full article here.