US opens probe into whether VW vehicles infringe Jaguar Land Rover patents

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) said on Monday it is opening in investigation into whether German automaker Volkswagen AG infringed on patents held by Jaguar Land Rover for a system used for off-road driving.

In November, Jaguar Land Rover, a unit of Tata Motors, filed a complaint with the ITC seeking to prevent the import of some VW Porsche, Lamborghini and Audi models with "certain vehicle control systems" that allegedly infringe on its patents.

The models include the Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Cayenne and Audi’s Q8, Q7, Q5, A6 Allroad, and e-tron vehicles and the VW Tiguan. The ITC said it has made no decision on the merits.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said the vehicles "have used JLR’s patented inventions without payment or permission" notably a patent for an "improved system for driving a vehicle on different driving surfaces, in particular off-road."

JLR says its Terrain Response technology uses the patented technology to maximize performance on off-road driving surfaces, including grass, snow, mud, sand and rocks.