Makers of terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS)–mandated safety avionics that the FAA says must be installed in most turbine-powered airplanes by March 2005–have started to fight back against a Honeywell lawsuit alleging infringement of patents relating to the original TAWS: the Phoenix company’s Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS).
Tucson, Ariz.-based Universal Avionics, a Honeywell competitor and one of four defendants embroiled in the lawsuit, last month lodged a counterclaim against its cross-state rival, accusing the avionics and engines giant of “customer intimidation” and “sham lobbying” of the FAA and European Commission. It is a move that has provoked “dismay” at Honeywell, where officials call the counter legal action nothing more than a “groundless attempt” to avoid the central argument presented in its original patent lawsuit.
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