Patent infringement nets Honeywell $25 million
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Honeywell announced today that BorgWarner Inc. has paid $25 million as a partial settlement in a patent infringement suit.
The settlement came after the District Court in Dusseldorf, Germany, granted Honeywell's request for a preliminary injunction requiring BorgWarner to immediately to cease production of its turbochargers, which infringe Honeywell's European Patent 0226444.
In order to permit BorgWarner to continue operations, Honeywell agreed to grant a license through to June 30, 2003, enabling the company to continue sales of models of its variable geometry turbochargers.
According to Honeywell, while BorgWarner's payment to Honeywell does not fully compensate for the patent infringement, Honeywell agreed to enter into the partial settlement to address the needs of customers.
Honeywell first filed its lawsuit in Germany and elsewhere in Europe after becoming aware that BorgWarner's German subsidiary, 3K-Warner Turbosystems, had begun selling a product that looked similar to the GT-17 VTG turbocharger developed and patented by Honeywell's Garrett unit.
