Avidyne v L-3 Trial Date Set

Mark Phelps

Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 09:59 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Avidyne and L-3 Communications Avionics Systems are set for a jury trial in February 2013 regarding a patent dispute initiated by L-3 in 2005.
Avidyne CEO Dan Schwinn asserts the lawsuit is meritless, arguing that the claimed invention—calibrating an attitude indicator—was a common and well-known practice long before L-3's patent filing.
The lawsuit specifically targets Avidyne's EXP5000 primary flight displays sold between late 2004 and mid-2005, with no subsequent units or software versions implicated.
Avidyne has incurred significant legal costs, and its CEO suggests L-3's expenses are even higher, making recovery doubtful even if they win the case.

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Avidyne announced today that a date has been set in February 2013 for a jury trial in its patent dispute with L-3 Communications Avionics Systems.

Avidyne President and CEO Dan Schwinn argues the L-3 lawsuit is without merit, explaining, “L-3 claims it invented a basic method of calibrating an attitude indicator to correct for the alignment of the device in the aircraft. Far from being a novel invention, calibrating an attitude device is something that was well known long before the [L-3] patent was filed. Every attitude indicator ever made has had to be properly calibrated.”