ArvinMeritor beats Eaton on appeal

April 7, 2003
ArvinMeritor Inc. has won its appeal in a patent infringement suit brought by Eaton Corp. against ZF Meritor's Engine Synchro Shift.
ArvinMeritor Inc. has won its appeal in a patent infringement suit brought by Eaton Corp. regarding the ZF Meritor Engine Synchro Shift (ESS) transmission system.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the decision of the Delaware trial court and found that ArvinMeritor did not infringe on the Eaton patent.

"We are pleased that the court ruled in ArvinMeritor's favor and dissolved the injunction," said M. Lee Murrah, chief patent counsel for ArvinMeritor. "We have believed from the beginning that Eaton's position was unwarranted, and the Court of Appeals agreed."

As a result, Eaton cannot apply its patent against ArvinMeritor's ESS transmission or any other transmission that does not contain the structures listed in the patent claim, according to ArvinMeritor's outside legal counsel, Welsh & Katz Ltd.

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