Lawsuit Alleges Ford F-150 Fuel Injection Infringes Patent

A lawsuit filed in federal court in Philadelphia alleges that the fuel injection system used on the Ford F-150 infringes on a 2008 patent held by TMC Fuel Injection System LLC, based in Wayne, Pa., Bloomberg reports.

Talks between the automaker and the patent inventor, Shou L. Hou, began in late 2004 but failed in 2008 when Ford said it wasn’t interested in the technology, the complaint states. Hou filed for the fuel injection patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office more than two years before the talks began. TMC is seeking unspecified damages.

The technology cited in the complaint sounds similar to the EcoBoost 3.5-liter V-6 engine used in the F-150, among other Ford products. TMC says the system reduces fuel use by up to 35 percent in city driving by increasing the fuel injection dynamic range while adding a power boost during acceleration. About 42 percent of F-150s sold are powered by the EcoBoost engine.

A Ford representative declined to give comment to Bloomberg, but acknowledged that the automaker had “only just heard about the lawsuit.”

Source: Bloomberg