Solomon Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has completed the trial portion of its patent infringement case against Toyota Motor Corporation and certain of its affiliates for infringement of Solomon's Electric Wheel(tm) technology patent. Solomon has alleged that the Hybrid Synergy Drive(r) system installed in vehicles manufactured and imported by Toyota, such as the Prius, Highlander Hybrid, Camry Hybrid and the Lexus RX400h, infringe Solomon's U.S. Patent No. 5,067,932.
Solomon President Peter W. DeVecchis, Jr. said, "Solomon and its litigation team have completed the trial portion of its infringement action before the International Trade Commission in Washington, DC. Although litigation has never been our first choice to protect our intellectual property rights, I believe we presented a very strong case to the Administrative Law Judge and remain very confident in our position. There will be considerable post trial submissions in the form of written legal briefs and possibly follow-on questions from the court."
He continued, "With this portion of the effort nearly behind us, we will be intensifying our focus on expanding the licensing efforts of our patented technology as recently evidenced by our license with Hobie Cat, continuing the integration of the newly acquired Technipower business and targeting other acquisition opportunities. In addition, we expect shortly to announce results for the third quarter of 2006."
As previously announced, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. represents Solomon in its pending action against Toyota. Solomon brought suit against Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. and Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, on September 12, 2005, claiming infringement of Solomon's U.S. Patent Number 5,067,932, primarily relating to Toyota's use of the Hybrid Synergy Drive technology in its Prius and Highlander Hybrid vehicles. On January 11, 2006, Solomon filed an additional complaint against Toyota with the ITC seeking to exclude importation of the infringing technology. The action against Toyota and its affiliates in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, has been stayed pending resolution of the ITC action.
The ITC Administrative Law Judge is expected to issue his initial determination on or before January 18, 2007. If Solomon is successful in its ITC action, Toyota could be prohibited from importing into the United States any vehicle that utilizes the infringing combination motor and transmission systems including the Prius and Highlander models, the Camry Hybrid, the prodigy of the best selling mid-size car in the U.S. market, and the Lexus RX400h.
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