Rolls-Royce Group Plc, the world’s second-largest maker of jet engines, lost the patent- infringement case it brought against United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney over fan technology, Bloomberg News reports.
Rolls-Royce competes against a venture of East Hartford-based Pratt and Fairfield-based General Electric Co. to provide engines for the A380. GE is the largest maker of jet engines.
Pratt’s GP7200 Fan Stage doesn’t violate a patent issued in 2000 for a Rolls-Royce Trent engine used on the Airbus SAS A380 airplane, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., said in a decision, Bloomberg reports.
Rolls-Royce had been seeking as much as $3.7 billion in damages before Brinkema on May 4 told the London-based company it was likely overstating the effect of competition on sales.
Brinkema rejected the infringement claims today after determining the two competing technologies weren’t the same because the Rolls-Royce patent covers a fan stage with three sweep regions, while Pratt fans have four, according to the opinion.
“Rolls-Royce takes protection of its technology and intellectual property very seriously,” the company said in a statement. “We are disappointed by today’s ruling and will carefully consider our options.”
