A technology company has sued Ford Motor Company over patent infringements related to some of Ford’s hottest new products, including Sync.
The lawsuit says Eagle Harbor Holdings met with Ford starting in 2000 to discuss using Eagle Harbor’s voice command software and other patented technology.
Eagle Harbor's General Counsel, Jeff Harmes, says Ford’s hands-free phone system, Sync, uses some of that technology. But he says Ford broke off talks with Eagle Harbor in 2008.
"We regret that we’ve had to file suit against Ford, we would much prefer to do business with automakers as customers licensing our technology, and we hope that’s the outcome in this case."
A spokeswoman says Ford hasn’t had the chance to review the lawsuit yet and it would be premature to comment.
Harmes says Ford could owe his company millions of dollars. But he says these kinds of lawsuits are complex and can take years to resolve.
