Avionics
Jury: No infringement of TAWS patent
A federal jury last month rejected a claim by Honeywell that Sandel Avionics of Vista, Calif., violated its patents, ending more than six years of legal ba

A federal jury last month rejected a claim by Honeywell that Sandel Avionics of Vista, Calif., violated its patents, ending more than six years of legal battles over terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) technology.

The jury of five women and three men at the Delaware Federal Court in Wilmington deliberated for about five hours before deciding on December 5 that Sandel did not infringe on two Honeywell patents related to the latter’s enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). A federal judge in 2003 had ruled that none of Honeywell’s patents was infringed, but an appeals court reversed that decision last year and ordered a new trial on one remaining claim related to the two patents.