The success of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius, the best-selling hybrid car in the U.S., may stall if Alex Severinsky doesn't get paid.
The Soviet emigrant, who began his career developing antitank-warfare instrumentation, is getting his day in court over his claims that the idea he patented in 1994 for a high- voltage system to power gas-electric hybrid cars was used by Toyota without permission. Severinsky, 65, has spent years trying to get the automaker to pay royalties, and a hearing that starts today may lead to the U.S. blocking imports of the Prius.
"When I invented the hybrid engine, I said 'this is the biggest invention I can ever make,'" Severinsky, who fled to the U.S. in 1978 with his wife, son and $800, said in an interview. "They are thieves."
Toyota, which was found to have infringed the patent in an earlier case, said its hybrid vehicles are the result of its own research and is asking the U.S. International Trade Commission to deny Severinsky's latest claims.
The Washington-based ITC must decide what is more important: Severinsky's right to protect the millions of dollars invested in his invention or the potential economic harm of banning Toyota's hybrid-vehicle imports.
"We're confident that the government will look at this for what it is," Jim Lentz, president of the Japanese automaker's U.S. sales unit in Torrance, California, said in an interview. "I don't think it would be in the best interest of the American consumer to take the No. 1-selling hybrid off the market."
Patent Rights
The ITC is an independent agency set up to protect U.S. markets from unfair trade practices. When a violation is found, it typically sides with patent owners in banning imports unless there are health or public-policy issues. In 2007, it backed Broadcom Corp. and imposed a ban on some mobile phones with Qualcomm Inc. chips even after hearing testimony that it would affect billions of dollars in sales. An appeals court later overturned the ban.
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