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Pratt & Whitney has filed a countersuit against Rolls-Royce, claiming the that it misled the US Patent Office to obtain a patent which has formed the basis of a lawsuit which Rolls-Royce has brought against Pratt & Whitney.
Rolls-Royce launched court action in the US against Pratt & Whitney on August 26 claiming that fan stages on the PW1000G, Engine Alliance GP7200 and other engines infringe a patent that Rolls-Royce has on swept engine fan blades. P&W is defending itself from the lawsuit.
“We do not infringe Rolls-Royce’s patent,” Pratt & Whitney’s chief intellectual property counsel George Romanik said in a statement announcing the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. “Additionally, we believe the Rolls-Royce patent is invalid and unenforceable and that Rolls-Royce is unlawfully using its patent and taking other actions in an attempt to harm Pratt & Whitney.”
Pratt & Whitney also said that it intends to continue marketing its full range of engines, including the PW1000G which has been chosen to power the Bombardier CSeries and Mitsubishi MRJ. The orginal lawsuit brought by Rolls-Royce is likely to be heard during early 2011.
