Ford Gets Sued Over Fuel Injection Patent

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

If a Pennsylvania company will get its say, Ford needs to equip its F150 truck with carburetors. Or, at the very least, with something else than its current fuel injection system. TMC Fuel Injection System LLC of Wayne, Pennsylvania, sued Ford for allegedly infringing a TMC patent, Reuters says.

TMC says its 2008 patent covers a fuel flow process that improves fuel economy, cuts exhaust emissions and reduces idle speed. The system was invented in 2002 by an engineer that TMC employed, Shou Hou. He tried unsuccessfully to sell the system to Ford.

According to TMC, Ford decided against licensing the technology but has been incorporating it in its vehicles, including the F-150.

TMC is seeking a halt to the infringement, plus compensatory and triple damages.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
10 of 27 comments
  • NMGOM NMGOM on Aug 31, 2012

    Message to small companies with big ideas: you'll get ripped off. And their lawyers have more money than your lawayers.... Nobody likes REALLY game-changing inventions. Too threatening. Just keep your innovations simple and domesticated, strictly inside the box. God forbid you should come up with anything substantial. Can you imagine what would happen if somebody found a way to get 100 mpg out of a Ford F-150 using tap water along with gasoline, a kind of micro-emulsion? Quite possible, you know... Example: I used to work for an abrasives company and developed a new grinding substrate that outperformed the conventional product not by 10% or 15%......but by 150%. It threatened to obsolete two divisions. They were horrified and shelved it. I left. ----------

    • See 5 previous
    • Golden2husky Golden2husky on Sep 01, 2012

      @Landcrusher I thought that returnless became preferable because it saves the cost of an additional line and it does not return warmed gas to the tank, reducing the vapor pressure...

  • Darkhorse Darkhorse on Aug 31, 2012

    What the hell is going on regarding patents in this country? Apple vs Samsung, Samsung vs Apple trolls vs everyone. Maybe TMC has a legitimate case but this whole patent thing is a mess, especially when it comes to software.

  • El scotto El scotto on Aug 31, 2012

    TMC maybe gunning for "go away money" or in a press release: It was settled out of court.

  • 86SN2001 86SN2001 on Aug 31, 2012

    Ford? Stealing ideas from other companies? Say it isn't so!! Ford's been doing this for decades. It's their M.O.

Next