General Motors Corp. v. Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.

467 F. Supp. 1142
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedMay 18, 1979
DocketCiv. C-3-76-28
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 467 F. Supp. 1142 (General Motors Corp. v. Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Motors Corp. v. Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., 467 F. Supp. 1142 (S.D. Ohio 1979).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT, OPINION AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

CARL B. RUBIN, District Judge.

This action was brought by General Motors Corporation (General Motors) against Toyota Motor Company, Ltd., Toyota Motor Sales Company, Ltd., and Toyota Mid-America Distributors, Inc. (Toyota) over claims five (5) through eight (8) of United States Patent 3,852,041 (’041 patent). General Motors contends that Toyota infringed the ’041 patent. Toyota denies that allegation and, in the alternative, contends that the ’041 patent is invalid, as well as unenforceable.

A trial on these issues was held in November and December, 1977. On the basis of the evidence adduced at that trial, this Court submits herewith findings of fact, opinion and conclusions of law in accordance with Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I

FINDINGS OF FACT

A. General Background

1. A catalytic converter is a device which reduces the concentration of pollutants in car engine exhaust. It operates by subjecting engine exhaust to a chemical reaction before the exhaust is emitted from the tailpipe, rather than by modification of the engine. (R. 196-98)

2. There are two basic types of catalytic converters. A Monolithic Catalytic Converter consists of a ceramic block with a labyrinth of catalyst-coated channels throughout its length. Catalysis occurs by the passage of exhaust gas through these channels. By contrast, a Downflow Cata *1150 lytic Converter, like the one described by the ’041 patent, consists of an inlet chamber, an inner chamber in which catalyst-coated ceramic pellets are contained, and an outlet chamber. Catalysis occurs by the passage of exhaust gas into the inlet chamber, downward through the inner chamber, and out through the outlet chamber. (R. 192-95)

3. Initial interest in catalytic converters was regional and short-lived. The first converters were developed in the early sixties in response to California’s stringent car emission standards. However, catalytic converter development ended in the middle of that decade because of converter failure from fuel contamination and structural deformity at high temperatures. (R. 207-08)

4. The spectre of national legislation requiring the cleansing of car exhaust and the introduction of unleaded gasoline as an automobile propellant rekindled interest in catalytic converters in the late sixties. Since it was known generally that a catalytic converter will operate efficiently only if an engine burns unleaded fuel, the automobile industry’s switch to unleaded fuel in 1969 transformed catalytic converters into a viable means for achieving the proposed national emissions standards. Put simply, the proposed legislation set a goal and the decision to use unleaded fuel made catalytic converters a practical means of achieving that goal. (R. 199-200; 205-06. Exhibit 416 at H00021)

B. General Motors’ Experience

1. General Motors is incorporated in Delaware and has its principal place of business in Michigan. It is the largest manufacturer of motor vehicles in the United States.

2. In late 1969, General Motors divided responsibility for development of a catalytic converter among three groups. Both a Catalyst Group and a Catalyst Container Group were created at General Motors’ AC Spark Plug Division (AC Spark Plug). In addition, an Applications Group was created at General Motors’ Oldsmobile Division. The first group was charged with identifying an appropriate metal to produce the catalytic reaction; the middle group was charged with developing a structure to contain the catalytic reaction; and the latter group was charged with placing the catalytic converters designed by AC Spark Plug on all General Motors’ cars. (R. 207; 368-69)

3. The Container Group, in turn, divided-up responsibilities. The Product Engineering Section was responsible for converter design. By contrast, the Production Engineering Section was responsible for developing tools, machines, and facilities for efficiently manufacturing converters designed by the Product Engineering Section. (R. 368; 1222-24; 1390)

4. The skills of the people who worked in these sections were compatible with their job functions. Product Engineering staff members were mechanical engineers with extensive experience in the design of automotive parts. Alternatively, Production Engineering staff members were mechanical engineers who were familiar with efficient ways to manufacture automotive parts. (R. 1222-23)

5. The initial objective of the Container Group was development of a downflow “replaceable element” catalytic converter. Catalysts which had been utilized up to that time were short-lived. Accordingly, it was felt necessary to have a converter to which fresh catalyst could be added periodically. (R. 208-209; 370; 376. Exhibit 220)

6. This type of downflow converter displayed two irremediable problems. First, it consisted of too many parts to be manufactured economically. Second, it leaked. A converter requiring the periodic addition of new catalyst could not be totally welded together. Therefore, under high temperatures, exhaust gas tended to by-pass the converter wherever removable parts joined with other parts. (R. 208-09; 376; 380-81; 1224-27; 1391-93)

7. Because of these problems, the Container Group abandoned replaceable element converters in late June or early July, 1970. Instead, attention was focused on development of a converter without remov *1151 able parts. Although a “unitized” converter could not be refilled with fresh catalyst, Container Group staff members hoped that its welded seams would prevent the leakage and high costs associated with the replaceable element converter. (R. 261-2; 380-81; 1227-37)

8. The Container Group did not start from scratch in developing unitized converters. In fact, two of these converters had been developed within the Container Group prior to abandonment of the replaceable element converter.

9. The first converter concept developed within the Container Group was the CM-474 sketch. It was conceived on March 26, 1970 by Albert J. Moore, a draftsman for the Product Engineering Section. Moore worked alone in this endeavor. (R. 376-380; 550-54; 1393; 1399; 1411. Exhibit 112)

10. The most distinctive feature of the CM — 474 sketch was the upper catalyst retainer plate (catalyst housing). It had a downwardly concave semicircular extension and an upwardly concave semicircular extension. Consequently, when the upper catalyst retainer plate was placed between the top housing plate (outer wrap — upper) and the bottom housing plate (outer wrap — lower), the extensions created an inlet and outlet to the converter. (Exhibit 112)

11. Product Engineering staff members totally ignored the CM-474 sketch. Since the staff members still were concentrating their attention on development of a replaceable element converter in March and April, 1970, they apparently thought that the CM-474 sketch should not be pursued. In any event, Product Engineering never made a model of the CM-474 concept. (Finding No. B(7). R. 550-56; 1411)

12.

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467 F. Supp. 1142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-motors-corp-v-toyota-motor-co-ltd-ohsd-1979.