Ford, TRW Face Patent Lawsuit Over Turn Signal System

A former electrical engineer has sued Ford Motor Co. and TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., claiming the companies are infringing on his 2008 patent of an "intelligent" turn signal system.

Richard Ponziani, who has a degree in electrical engineering, claims in a federal court in Wilmington, Del., that Ford illegally began using his invention in 2009.

The system uses wheel speed rather than steering wheel angle to determine when to turn off the signal. It also compiles a recent history of the operator's driving habits. Ponziani's patent describes a technology that can turn off a signal has been left on unintentionally yet ignore "normal dither motion" of the steering wheel that might cause a conventional mechanism to cancel the signal in mid-turn.

The lawsuit says Ponziani's system has been incorporated into a TRW steering column control module that Ford uses in its Ford brand Edge, Explorer and Flex crossovers, Fusion and Taurus sedans, F-Series pickup trucks; and in Lincoln brand MKT large crossovers, MKS large sedans and MKZ midsize sedans.

Ponziani says he presented his invention to several Ford representatives in 2010 but was told the company wasn't interested. His complaint says he advised Ford at the time that he thought the company was using his patented technology.

Ponziani is asking that Ford be ordered to pay him unspecified royalties and legal costs associated with his lawsuit.