The United States International Trade Commission on Wednesday stated it has launched an investigation into whether Volkswagen AG and its subsidiaries infringed hybrid electric automobile patents owned by Baltimore-based Paice LLC.
The commission stated it has not made any choices on the merits of the case. But a ruling versus Volkswagen could be a significant problem to the automaker’s technique to move to hybrid vehicles after a crushing emissions fraud scandal stopped sales of its diesel vehicles in the United States in 2015.
Paice is looking for an ITC order that would obstruct the import and sale of Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche brand hybrid automobiles in the U.S. market. It submitted its initial demand on April 15.
After a comparable ITC complaint and federal suits against Toyota Motor Corp, (7203. T) Paice struck a licensing deal in 2010 with Toyota that includes 23 hybrid electrical control patents. Last year, it stated it reached comparable licensing contracts with Hyundai Motor Co Ltd and Kia Motors.
Paice declares on its website that it shared with Volkswagen its trademarked hybrid technology, consisting of computer modeling and control algorithms with Volkswagen between 2001 to 2004.
