ArvinMeritor Inc. has filed a lawsuit in Charlotte, N.C., Federal Court against Eaton Corp. for an alleged infringement over a transmission patent.
ArvinMeritor is seeking an injunction to stop the sale of Eaton UltraShift and AutoShift transmissions because of the transmission automation technology it uses. The company is also seeking damages for past infringement.
ArvinMeritor said the same technology was developed for its ESS transmission, a model that it said “has been superceded by higher technology.” ESS was later followed by ArvinMeritor’s SureShift transmission.
“This is an extremely broad patent,” said ArvinMeritor’s Tom Gosnell, president of commercial vehicle systems. “We believe that all of Eaton’s automated manual transmissions infringe on it. While we welcome fair competition in the marketplace, we refuse to compete against our own patented technology advancements.”
