The Federal Court of Canada rules Bell Helicopter infringed a Eurocopter patent
Posted by- Neelam Mathews Feb 1, 2012 In a ruling issued on January 30, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that Bell Helicopter intentionally infringed a patent of Eurocopter and awarded punitive damages and an injunction to Eurocopter. The patent covers an innovative helicopter landing gear design that Eurocopter developed and implemented on its EC120 and EC130 models, says Eurocopter. The EC press release reads: In its findings, the Court determined that Bell leased a Eurocopter EC120 helicopter equipped with the patented landing gear, studied the design of the gear, and created a “ slavish copy ” to be used on its new 429 model. Remarkably, when Bell employees raised concerns internally regarding similarities between the Bell landing gear and Eurocopter’s patented design, Bell’s management instructed engineers simply to “ carry on .” The Court held that “ This is a case of willful blindness or intentional and planned misappropriation [by Bell] of the…invention .” Significant...