Honeywell TAWS Lawsuit Headed Back to Court

By: Stephen Pope

November 20, 2008
Avionics

Lawyers for Universal Avionics, Sandel and Honeywell are scheduled to return to a Delaware federal courtroom next month in the long-running dispute over terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) patents. A jury trial relating to three patent infringement claims made by Honeywell in 2002 is scheduled to begin on December 1.

Jurors will be asked to decide whether Honeywell is entitled to damages from Universal and Sandel for infringement of patents applied in Honeywell’s enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). Honeywell had been seeking potential damages of $90 million against Universal, but two court rulings last month limit what it can claim for lost profits and willful infringement.

“Based on the damages assessments proposed by Honeywell, we believe that even if they can prove liability their best-case scenario would be measured at a little over $1 million,” said Scott Bornstein, a lawyer for Universal Avionics. Honeywell disagreed with that assessment, saying in a statement it expects to win a judgment worth “millions of dollars.

Honeywell sued several makers of TAWS avionics in May 2002, but only the lawsuits against Universal Avionics and Sandel have continued through the appeals process this far. Honeywell earlier won a judgment of around $6.5 million against Universal relating to a separate EGPWS patent dealing with so-called terrain clearance floors.

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