Alston & Bird represented Ford Motor Company in winning inter partes review (IPR) challenges to 60 claims in three patents owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On November 20, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued final written decisions in the IPRs, holding that all of the patent claims that Ford challenged in the MIT patents are unpatentable. The patents, “Optimized Fuel Management System for Direct Injection Ethanol Enhancement of Gasoline Engines,” list three MIT researchers as inventors. MIT and Ethanol Boosting Systems LLC, a spin-off company formed by the researchers, had asserted the patent claims against Ford.
Representing Ford were partners Michael Connor and Christopher Douglas; senior associate Andrew Ligotti; and associate Erin Beaton (Intellectual Property).