Paice Llc

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July 20, 2010 By Dan Strumpf NEW YORK — Toyota Motor Corp. has settled a years-long dispute with a US company that had alleged the Japanese automaker used its technology in its hybrids without permission. The deal ends a squabble that had briefly threatened to block the Prius from being sold in the United States. Toyota and Paice LLC said yesterday that they have 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,’’ said Frances Keenan, chairman of the Paice board, in a prepared statement. Paice, based in Bonita Springs, Fla., had contended that popular Toyota hybrids like the third-generation Prius and the Lexus HS 250h contain technology that violated Paice’s patents for hybrid engines. Read More Posted @ 8:01 pm by Paice LLC Forbes.com July 19, 2010 By Joann Muller DETROIT – Toyota Motor, the leader in hybrid vehicles, has settled a patent-infringement dispute that had threatened to block the sale of the best-selling Prius and other Toyota hybrids. The agreement with Paice LLC, a tiny Florida firm founded by Alex Severinsky, a 65-year-old Soviet refugee, came Monday just as a hearing was to begin on Paice’s claim against Toyota before the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. Severinsky claimed Toyota had infringed his 1994 patent for a high-voltage, low-current hybrid system, which he said provided the ideal balance between performance and cost. (See “Toyota’s Other Legal Mess” ) In a press release, the companies said, “The parties agree that, although certain Toyota vehicles have been found to be equivalent to a Paice patent, Toyota invented, designed and developed the Prius and Toyota’s hybrid technology independent of any inventions of Dr. Severinsky and Paice as part of Toyota’s long history of innovation.” Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed, but Paice’s chairman, Frances M. Keenan, said Toyota had agreed to license all 23 of Paice’s patents, not just the one at issue in the ITC claim.

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