In Hyundai and Kia patent infringement case, the companies have been asked to pay damages of $28.9 million as the jury found in favour of the plaintiff- a little known company called Paice LLC. The actual settlement may be much more as the jury believes the infringement was intentional, as per Bloomberg report.
In 2012, Hyundai and Kia found themselves in the same spot as Toyota and Ford – having a disagreement with Paice. The CEO of the Baltimore based company, Alex Severinsky, is a Russian immigrant and seems to have taken the work-from-home concept to heart, as the HQ of the company exists in his private residence. Paice owns patents on several hybrid technologies dating back to 1994. These patents and litigation seem to be the sole reason of existence for the company.
This patent in discussion here relates to a hybrid car technology called Hyperdrive which functions as a switch between an electric motor and internal combustion engine. To date, Paice has won settlements against patent infringements lawsuits from Toyota (resulting in royalty payments from all vehicles that use the Hyperdrive technology) and Ford. Not satisfied with its settlement in 2010, Paice had put Ford back in the courtroom over the C-Max, Fusion and the Lincoln MKZ.
Hyundai and Kia plan to appeal the ruling and claim that the verdict is not based on evidence.