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Lear sued for patent infringement; plaintiffs seeks $264 million
By Caroline Salls
Pittsburgh, Aug. 20 - Lear Corp. has been named as the defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York by The Chamberlain Group, Inc. and Johnson Controls Interiors, LLC.
According to the complaint, Chamberlain manufactures and sells garage door openers worldwide and holds key patents on its technology. Johnson Controls is the legal and exclusive licensee of the patents.
Under the license agreement, Johnson Controls has an exclusive worldwide license to intellectual property that allows it to make and sell radio frequency transmitters and/or transceivers to automotive original equipment manufacturers for integration into vehicles.
The plaintiffs are alleging that Lear copied Chamberlain's patented design when it could not obtain a legal license to the patents so that Lear's transmitters could open and close Chamberlain garage door openers.
Chamberlain and Johnson Controls said Lear claims that it designed around the patents, but the plaintiffs allege that Lear's product would not work if it didn't use a patented security algorithm.
The plaintiffs said Lear continues to sell its infringing products, causing more than $88 million in damages for lost profits, cost erosion and lost royalties.
In addition, Chamberlain and Johnson said the damages should be tripled as a result of Lear's willful infringement, resulting in $264 million of pre-bankruptcy debt. The plaintiffs said the administrative claims they would otherwise hold against the company should also be tripled.
Lear, a Southfield, Mich.-based automotive parts supplier, filed for bankruptcy on July 7. Its Chapter 11 case number is 09-14326.
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