ArvinMeritor Inc has won its appeal in the patent infringement suit brought by Eaton Corp against ZF Meritor's Engine Synchro Shift (ESS) transmission system. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the decision of the Delaware trial court and found that ArvinMeritor did not infringe on the Eaton patent.
The Court of Appeals narrowed Eaton's interpretation of its patent. As a result, Eaton cannot apply its patent against ArvinMeritor's ESS transmission or any other transmission that does not contain the structures listed in the patent claim, according to the ArvinMeritor's outside legal counsel, Welsh & Katz Ltd.
After the initial lawsuit filing by Eaton in July 1997, ZF Meritor — a joint venture created in 1999 between ArvinMeritor and ZF — was forced in September 2001 to remove ESS from the market, due to the initial verdict in the competitor's favor.