Community | September 05, 2009 | 16 comments

The end of Toyota Prius?

source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/toyota-prius-faces-ban-due-to-us-patent-suit.php?dci...

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hcice
Paice, a company that develops hybrid electric power train technology, has filed a patent infrigement case against Toyota (yet again), saying that the company is using Paice's technology in the Prius and two other hybrid vehicles. Should Paice win, it could spell the death of certain vehicle imports, possibly including the green icon Prius.
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    Community,   Green,   notforlxs,   Court Legal Cases
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16 comments // The end of Toyota Prius?

  • samthesixth
  • s0uthc0ast
    • 0
      s0uthc0ast  

    • Funny how people are willing to overlook the carbon footprint in producing the Prius and environmental damage from mining the nickel for the batteries.
      I guess as long as you feel good about the car, nothing else matters.

    • 2 years ago
  • heimbachae
    • 0
      heimbachae  

    • GOD the prius is NOT that efficient. Yes, right now, in the now, they are. But after those cars are done with (think about your laptop battery how long that lasts) those batteries need to get disposed of. That is a dirty DIRTY process, no one seems to give a crap about that. Bleh, it's too early to be this worked up.

    • 2 years ago
  • angliss
    • 0
      angliss  
    • heimbachae:

      Efficient vs. environmentally friendly are related, but different concepts. I'd love to see a lifecycle analysis of the Prius, but haven't come across one, although I'll admit that I haven't looked that hard.

      I'm OK with hybrids in general and would love to see fuel efficient diesel in the U.S.

    • 2 years ago
  • rickm8
  • samthesixth
  • RaceBannon
  • angliss
  • joelamckenna
    • 0
      joelamckenna  

    • I wish That relationship between Weight and acceleration wasn't so exclusive when the design of an energy efficient car is in question.( in regards to the insight) the weight of batteries is always in the designfor the more modern cars.

    • 2 years ago
  • CarlosIsDown
  • Kepano
    • 0
      Kepano  

    • What do you think Toyota is doing? Not profiting from a smaller companies invention? News Flash if these large corporations cared about the environment or the consumers all automobiles and vehicles for that matter would have been restructured a long time ago. Profits, Greed, and Money is all what this game has always been about. Infringements happen daily to companies and people. The owner of the invention should have full control and rights to their idea no one else.

    • 2 years ago
  • angliss
    • 0
      angliss  
    • Kepano:

      You seem to be assuming that just because I think Paice looks bad that I think Toyota looks clean. They're not. But I have no tolerance at all for companies who patent things just to sit on them and make money from other people actually doing the hard work of bringing them to market. Companies who do that are right up there with people who squat on valuable web domains and spammers.

    • 2 years ago
  • rickm8
    • 0
      rickm8  
    • Kepano:

      Are you serious?

      The way the system works is that a company does R&D, creates a product in demand by various industries, sells the idea behind the product to these companies, they use it, and they originator gets paid.

      How is that slacking or being lazy?

      They took the time, brainpower, and money to create a product that others could take to market in their own ways...

      Sounds fair to me...

    • 2 years ago
  • angliss
    • 0
      angliss  

    • The Prius won't go away any time soon unless Toyota can't acquire enough rare earth elements for all the specialized components in the car. The worst that'll happen is Toyota will get hit with a big fine and Paice will get a bad reputation.

    • 2 years ago
  • EmperorThan
    • 0
      EmperorThan  
    • angliss:

      Paice will get a bad reputation??? They created it, why would they get a bad reputation?

      Patent infringement just like plagiarism or copyright infringement DOESN'T look bad for the person who created the original content. It does for the person who illegally stole or copied it.

    • 2 years ago
  • angliss
    • 0
      angliss  
    • angliss:

      Yes, Paice will get a bad rep. If they invented it but failed to commercialize it, then that's bad for Paice. If they invented it but didn't even try to commercialize it, then they're a company that exists exclusively to patent things and then litigate to make money. Again, bad rep for Paice.

    • 2 years ago
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