Reportedly, Ford Motor Co. (F) has appealed the court to order its hybrid-technology partner Paice LLC to obey a patent agreement and has sued the latter for it. In Jul 2010, Ford had signed an agreement with Paice that gave it the right to use the Paice Hyperdrive technology, a patent-protected invention of Paice.
The 2010 agreement stated that Ford will pay a certain amount for the technique to provide torque to vehicles’ wheels from both the electric motor and the internal combustion engine. The agreement helped Ford solve the conflict with Paice.
According to the case filed by Ford in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington, the automaker has demanded that Paice should follow the agreement and hence not charge Ford for violation of patent.
Paice had also signed a licensing agreement with Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) in Jul 2010. The agreement gave Toyota the right to use all Paice technology.
Ford posted a 12.5% rise in earnings per share to 45 cents in the third quarter of 2013 from 40 cents in the same quarter of 2012 (all excluding special items). Earnings also outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents.
Revenues in the quarter grew 12.2% to $36 billion, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $33.8 billion. The improvement was attributable to increased wholesale volumes in automotive business and higher market share in all regions.
Ford is one of the largest automobile producers in the world along with General Motors Company (GM), Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) and Toyota. Currently, Ford retains a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment