ArvinMeritor, ZF Friedrichshafen, and ZF Meritor on Friday said they had won the patent infringement suit brought by Eaton on the ZF FreedomLine truck transmission. The suit was initially filed on 1 December, 2003.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The jury found that both technology patents at issue in the trial were invalid and therefore not enforceable against the three suppliers on both current and future products.
“This is a significant milestone for ArvinMeritor and ZF’s FreedomLine transmission product line and its superior technology, particularly since we’ve been confident the product didn’t infringe from the beginning,” said Carsten Reinhardt, president of ArvinMeritor’s commercial vehicle systems business.
“ZF takes great pride in its innovative products. This suit was an attempt by Eaton to limit the choice that truck manufacturers offer to end-users,” said Rolf Lutz, group executive, commercial vehicle and special technology division, ZF Friedrichshafen.
The FreedomLine transmission is an automated manual transmissions introduced in North America and was the first in the industry to feature a two-pedal design for use in the fleet market.
