BMW sued for patent infringement over hybrid engine technology

BMW has been hit with a patent infringement lawsuit from a U.S. hybrid engine technology provider.

Paice and nonprofit The Abell Foundation said BMW has infringed on their patents involving hybrid engines, according to a suit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Baltimore-based Abell Foundation is an investor in Paice, which is also based in Baltimore.

Infringement is claimed on eight BMW hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, including the 330e iPerformance, 530e iPerformance, 750e xDrive iPerformance, i8 Roadster Plug-in and Mini Countryman Plug-in.

"Paice shared intimate details of our hybrid vehicle technology with BMW in good faith," Paice CEO Robert Oswald said in a statement. "Rather than negotiate a license for our technology, BMW took what it learned from Paice and used it for its own gain."

BMW declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

Paice was involved in similar litigation with several automakers, including Ford, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia. Those automakers subsequently paid Paice to license its technology. Paice was founded by Russian emigrant and engineer Alex Severinsky to commercialize his work on a high-voltage method to power gas-electric hybrid motors.

Beginning in the early 2000s, Paice taught BMW how its patented technology could maximize fuel efficiency and reduce emissions without sacrificing driving performance, the suit alleges. The company held in-person meetings and shared technical materials with BMW's senior management and BMW engineers.

"BMW readily expressed interest in Paice's technology because BMW was still pushing its diesel technology and was years behind other leading automakers that were actively pursuing hybrids," the 31-page complaint states. BMW eventually dismissed Paice after learning what it could about Paice's technology, the filing noted.

In 2005, BMW joined a hybrid system alliance with DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. Paice had several meetings with GM and DaimlerChrysler in the early 2000s and provided DaimlerChrysler its computer modeling and control algorithms. The alliance dissolved in 2009, with the automakers noting that the hybrid system was too expensive and had no future, the Paice suit said.

"The following year, BMW released its only vehicle with this costly system, the BMW X6 SUV, and shortly [after] pulled it from the market," the complaint noted. "But within the next few years, BMW began employing Paice's critical teachings, adding hybrid and plug-in hybrid models to its vehicle lineup with notable success."