Bloomberg Law | Ford Wins Agency Tribunal Challenge to MIT Clean Engine Patents

Alston & Bird represented Ford Motor Company in winning inter partes review (IPR) challenges to 60 claims in three patents owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On November 20, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued final written decisions in the IPRs, holding that all of the patent claims that Ford challenged in the MIT patents are unpatentable. The patents, “Optimized Fuel Management System for Direct Injection Ethanol Enhancement of Gasoline Engines,” list three MIT researchers as inventors. MIT and Ethanol Boosting Systems LLC, a spin-off company formed by the researchers, had asserted the patent claims against Ford.

Alston & Bird client Ford Motor Co. prevailed in a patent suit at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) over claims by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) accusing the company of allegedly infringing technology in its EcoBoost® engines.