On December 23, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion affirming Alston & Bird’s wins for Ford Motor Company at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The Federal Circuit affirmed the inter partes review (IPR) decisions finding 60 claims across three patents related to fuel management systems unpatentable. Ethanol Boosting Systems LLC and Massachusetts Institute of Technology had asserted those patents against Ford Motor Company in 2020. The 2020 case stems from a suit filed in 2019 against Ford Motor Company on related patents, which Alston & Bird won after an affirmance at the Federal Circuit in 2020.
The case is Ethanol Boosting Systems LLC v. Ford Motor Co. (Nos. 24-1381, 24-1382, and 24-1383) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court’s decision can be found here.
Representing Ford Motor Company were partners Mike Connor, Andrew Ligotti, Chris Douglas, and Kirk Bradley and associate Erin Beaton (Intellectual Property).